
Qass. 



IzJ 9<^ 



Book. ,' I 



hA 






i 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



; 



District of Virginia^ to wit: 

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the seventh day of Julv, ,n the fortu-ninth u.n 

[SEAL.] District, hath deposited in this office the Title of a booktlwnMl.ll 
he claims as Author, in the tvordf follo^ving , to lit. ' ^'^ ^^'^' 

Rn. JEFFRIES! 

Clerk of the IHstrict of Virgin 



^ \ 




COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH 



THE CONTINENT OF 

NORTH AMERICA, 

FROM THEIR 

.EMENT, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT WAR WHICH 
TERMINATED IN THEIR 



BY JOHN MARSHALL. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PUBLISHED BY ABRAHAM SMALL. 



1824. 



1^ 



.,«*^^''' 



^?r*- 



»VnV 



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** 



PREFACE. 



So large a portion of the life of General 
Washington was devoted to the public, so elevated 
and important were the stations which he filled, 
that the history of his life is, at the same time, the 
history of his nation. 

The part he took, while commander in chief, in 
the civil as well as military affairs of the United 
States, was so considerable, that few events of ge- 
neral interest occurred, which were not, in some 
degree, influenced by him. A detail of the trans- 
actions in which he was either immediately or 
remotely concerned, would comprehend so great 
a part of those which belong to general history, 
that the entire exckision of the few in which he 
bore no part, while it would scarcely give to the 
work more of the peculiar character of biography, 
would expose it to the charge of being an incom- 
plete history of the times. 



Vi PREFACE. 

His administration of the government while 
President of the United States, cannot be well un- 
derstood without a full knowledge of the political 
measures of the day, and of the motives by which 
his own conduct was regulated. 

These considerations appeared to require that 
his biography should present a j2;eneral historical 
view of the transactions of the time, as well as a 
particular narrative of the part performed by him- 
self. 

Our ideas of America, of the character of our 
revolution, of those who engaged in it, and of the 
struggles by which it was accomplished, would be 
imperfect without some knowledge of our colonial 
history. No work had been published when this 
was undertaken, from which that knowledge could 
be collected. To have taken up the history of 
the United States when the command of the ar- 
my was conferred on General Washington, would 
have been to introduce the reader abruptly into 
the midst of scenes and transactions, with the 
causes of which, and with the actors in them, he 
would naturally wish to be intimately acquainted. 
This was tlie apology of the author for the intro- 
ductory volume to the Life of General Washing- 



PREFACE. Vll 

ton. Had the essays since written towards a ge- 
neral history of the English colonies been then in 
possession of the public, this volume would not 
have appeared. But, although they miyjht have 
prevented its appearance, they ought not to pre- 
vent its being corrected and offered to the public 
in a form less exceptionable than that which it 
originally bore. From the extreme, 1 may add un- 
pardonable, precipitation with which it was hurried 
to the press, many errors were overlooked which, 
on a perusal of the book, were as apparent to the 
author as to others. He was desirous of cor- 
recting these errors, and of making the work more 
worthy of the public to which it was offered, as 
well as more satisfactory to himself. For this 
purpose he has given it, since the impressions un- 
der which it was compiled have worn off, more 
than one attentive reading ; has made several al- 
terations in th language ; and has expunged much 
of the less essential matter with which the narra- 
tive was burthened. He dares not flatter himself 
that he has succeeded completely in his attempt 
to entitle this work to the approbation of the lite- 
rary pubhc of America ; but hopes that its claims 
to that approbation are stronger than in its ori- 
ginal form. 



Vm PREFACE. 

Believing that motives no longer exist for con- 
necting the History of the English Colonies in 
North America with the Life of Washington, the 
author has obtained the permission of the propri- 
etor of the copy-right to separate the Introduction 
from the other volumes, and to publish it as a 
distinct work. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Commission of Cabot. — His voyage to America. — Views of dis- 
covery relinquished by Henry VII. — Resumed by Elizabeth. 
— Letters patent to Sir Humphry Gilbert. — His voyages and 
death. — Patent to Sir Walter Raleigh.*^ Voyage of Sir Richard 
Grenville. — Colonists carried back to England by Drake. — 
Grenville arrives with other colonists. — They are left on Ro- 
anoke Island. — Are destroyed by the Indians. — Arrival of 
John White. — He returns to England for succour. — Raleigli 
assigns his patent. — Patent to Sir Thomas Gates and others 
— Code of laws for the proposed colony drawn up by the 
King. - . > . Page 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Voyage of Newport. — Settlement at Jamestown. — Distress of 
colonists. — Smith. — He is captured by the Indians. — Con- 
demned to death, saved by Pocahq^itas. — Returns to James- 
town. — Newport arrives with fresh settlers. — Smith explores 
the Chesapeake. — Is chosen president. — New charter. — Third 
voyage of Newport. — Smith sails for Europe. — Condition of 
the colony. — Colonists determine to abandon the country. — ■ 
Are stopped by Lord Delaware. — Sir Thomas Dale. — New 
charter. — Captain Argal seizes Pocahontas. — She marries Mr. 
Rolf. — Separate property in lands and labour. — Expedition 
against Port Royal. — Against Manhadoes, — Fifty acres of 



X CONTENTS. 

land for each settler. — Tobacco. — Sir Thomas Dale. — Mr. 
Yeirdley. — First assembly- — First arrival of females — Of con- 
victs. — Of African slaves. — Two councils established, — Pros- 
perity of the colony. — Indians attempt to massacre the vi'hites. 
— General war. — Dissolution of the company. — Arbitrary 
measures of the crown. — Sir John Harvey. — Sir William 
Berkeley. — Provincial assembly restored. — Virginia declares 
in favour of Charles IT — Grant to Lord Baltimore. — Arrival 
of a colony in Maryland. — Assembly composed of freemen. 
— William Claybourne. — Assembly composed of representa- 
tives. — Divided into two branches. — Tyrannical proceedings. 

Page 29 

CHAPTER III. 

First ineffectual attempts of the Plymouth company to settle the 
country. — Settlement at New Pl^'mouth. — Sir Henry Rose- 
well and company. — New charter. — Settlements prosecuted 
vigorou5)l3^ — Government transferred to the colonists. — Bos- 
ton founded. — Religious intolerance. — General court establish- 
ed, — Royal commission for the government of the plantations. 
— Contest with the French colony of Acadie. — Hugh Peters. 
— Henry Vane. — Mrs. Hutchison. — Maine granted to Gorges. 
— Quo warranto against the patent of the colony. — lieligious 
dissentions — Providence settled. — Rhode Island settled. — 
Connecticut settled.— War with the Pequods. — New Haven 
settled. - - - - 73 

CHAPTER IV. 

Massachusetts claims New Hampshire and part of Maine. — 
Dissentions among the inhabitants. — Confederation of the 
New England colonies. — Rhode Island excluded from it. — 
Separate chambers provided for the two branches of the Legis- 
lature. — New England takes part with Parliament. — Treaty 
with Acadie. — Petition of the non-conformists. — Disputes be- 
tween Massachusetts and Connecticut. — War between Eng- 
land and Holland. — Machinations of the Dutch at Manhadoes 



CONTENTS. XI 

among the Indians. — Massachusetts refuses to join the united 
colonies in the war. — Application of New Haven to Crom- 
well for assistance. — Peace with the Dutch. — Expedit on of 
Sedgewic against Acadie. — Religious intolerance. Page 108 

CHAPTER V. 

Transactions succeeding the restoration of Charles II. — Con- 
tests between Connecticut and New Haven. — Discontents in 
Virginia. — Grant to the duke of York. — Commissioners ap- 
pointed by the crown. — Conquest of the Dutch settlements. — 
Conduct of Massachusetts to the royal commissioners. — Their 
recall. Massachusetts evades a summons to appear before 
the King and council. — Settlement of Carolina. — Form of go- 
vernment. — Constitution of Mr. Locke. — Discontents in the 
county of Albemarle. — Invasion from Florida. — Abolition of 
the constitution of Mr. Locke. — Bacon's rebellion. — His 
death. — Assembly deprived of judicial power. — Discontents 
in Virginia. — Population of the colony. - 130 

CHAPTER VI. 

Prosperity of New England. — War with Philip. — Edward Ran- 
dolph arrives in Boston. — Maine adjudged to Gorges. — Pur- 
chased by Massachusetts. — Royal government erected in New 
Hampshire. — Complaints against Massachusetts. — Their let- 
ters patent cancelled. — Death of Charles II. — James II. pro- 
claimed. — New commission for the government of New P^ng- 
land. — Sir Edmond Andros. — The charter of Rhode Island 
abrogated. — Odious measures of the new government. — An- 
dros deposed. — William and Mary proclaimed. — Review of 
proceedings in New York and the Jerseys. — Pennsylvania 
granted to William Penn. — Frame of government — Founda- 
tion of Philadelphia laid. — Assembly convened. — First acts of 
the Legislature. — Boundary line with lord Baltimore settled. 

165 



xii CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER VII. 

New charter of Massachusetts. — Affairs of New York. — War 
with France. — Schenectady destroyed. — Expedition against 
Port Royal. — Against Quebec. — Acadie recovered by France. 
— Peniaquid taken. — Attempt on St. Johns. — Peace. — Affairs 
of New York. — Of Virginia.—Disputes between England and 
France respecting boundary in America. — Re-commencement 
of hostilities. — Quotas of the respective colonies. — Treaty of 
neutrality between France and the five nations. — Expedition 
against Port Royal. — Incursion into Massachusetts. — Plan for 
the invasion of Canada. — Port Royal taken. — Expedition 
against Quebec. — Treaty of Utrecht. — Affairs of New York. 
• — Of Carolina. — Expedition against St. Augustine. — Attempt 
to establish the Episcopal church. — Invasion of the colony. — 
Bills of credit issued. — Legislature continues itself. — Massa- 
cre in North Carolina by the Indians. — Tuscaroras defeated. 
—Scheme of a Bank. - - Page 186 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Proceedings of the legislature of Massachusetts. — Intrigues of 
the French among the Indians. — War with the savages. — 
Peace. — Controversy with the governor. — Decided in England. 
---Contests concerning the governor's salary.---The assembly 
adjourned to Salem.— -Contest concerning the salary termi- 
nated. ---Great depreciation of the paper currency.— -Scheme 
of a land bank.— -Company dissolved by act of Parliament. 
-—Governor Shirley arrives.-— Review of transactions in New 
York. ----- 215 

CHAPTER IX. 

War with the southern Indians. — Dissatisfaction of Carolina 
with the proprietors. ---Rupture with Spain.— -Combination to 
subvert the proprietary government.— -Revolution completed. 
---Expedition from the Havanna against Charleston.-— Peace 



CONTENTS. xiii 

with Spain. — The proprietors surrender their interest to the 
crown.— The province divided. — Georgia settled — Impolicy 
of the first regulations. — Intrigues of the Spaniards with the 
slaves of South Carolia. — Insurrection of the Slaves. P. 238 

CHAPTER X. 

War declared against Spain. — Expedition against St. Augustine. 
— Georgia invaded. — Spaniards land on an island in the Alta- 
maha. — Appearance of a fleet from Charleston. — Spanish army 
re-embarks. — Hostilities with France. — Expedition against 
Louisbourg. — Louisbourg surrenders. — Great plans of the bel- 
ligerent powers. — Misfortunes of the armament under the duke 
D'Anville. — The French fleet dispersed by a storm. — Expe- 
dition against Nova Scotia. — Treaty of Aix la Chapelle. — 
Paper money of Massachusetts redeemed. — Contests between 
the French and English respecting boundaries. — Statement 
respecting the discovery of the Mississippi. — Scheme for con- 
necting Louisiana with Canada — Relative strength of the 
French and English colonies. — Defeat at the Little Meadows. 
— Convention at Albany. — Plan of "^nion. — Objected to both 
in America and Great Britain. - - 253 

CHAPTER XI. 

General Braddock arrives. — Convention of governors and plan 
of the campaign. — French expelled from Nova Scotia, and in- 
habitants transplanted. — Expedition against fort Du Quesne. 
—Battle of Monongahela. — Defeat and death of General Brad- 
dock. — Expedition against Crown Point. — Dieskan defeated. 
— ^Expedition against Niagara. — Frontiers distressed by the 
Indians. — Meeting of the governors at New York. — Plan for 
the campaign of 1756. — Lord Loudoun arrives. — Montcalm 
takes Oswego. — Lord Loudoun abandons offensive operations. 
— Small pox breaks out in Albany. — Campaign of 1757 open- 
ed. — Admiral Holbourne arrives at Halifax. — Is joined by the 
earl of Loudoun. — Expedition against Louisbourg relinquish- 
ed. — Lord Loudoun returns to New York. — Fort William 



..uv CONTENTS. 

Henry taken. — Controversy between Lord Loudoun and the 
assembly of Massachusetts - - Page 287 

CHAPTER XIL 

Preparations for the campaign of 1758. — Admiral Boscawen and 
general Amherst arrive at Halifax. — Plan of the campaign. — 
Expedition against Louisbourg, Ticonderoga, and Crown 
Point. — General Abercrombie repulsed under the walls of 
Ticonderoga. — Fort Frontignac taken.—Expedition against 
fort Du Quesne. — Preparations for the campaign of 1759. — 
General Amherst succeeds general Abercrombie. — Plan of 
the campaign. — Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken. — Army 
goes into winter quarters. — French repulsed at Oswego. — 
Defeated at Niagara. — Niagara taken. — Expedition against 
Quebec. — Check to the English army. — Battle on the Plains 
of Abraham. — Death of Wolf and Montcalm. — Quebec capi- 
tulates. — Garrisoned by the English under the command of 
general Murray. — Attempt to recover Quebec — Battle near 
Sillery. — Quebec besieged by Monsieur Levi. — Siege raised. 
— Montreal capitulates. — War with the southern Indians. — 
Battle near the town of Etchoe. — Grant defeats them and 
burns their towns. — Treaty with the Cherokees*, — War with 
Spain. — Success of the English. — Peace. - 311 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Opinions on the supremacy of parliament, and its right to tax 
the colonies. — The stamp act. — Congress at New York. — 
Violence in the towns — Change of administration. — Stamp 
act repealed. — Opposition to the mutiny act. — Act imposing 
duties on tea, &c. resisted in America. — Letters from the as- 
sembly of Massachusetts to members of the administration. — 
Petition to the King. — Circular letter to the colonial assem- 
blies — Letter from the earl of Hillsborough. — Assembly of 
Massachusetts dissolved. — Seizure of the Sloop Liberty. — 
Convention at Fanueil Hall. — Moderation of its proceedings. 
— Two British regiments arrive at Boston. — Resolutions of 



CONTENTS. XV 

the house of Burgesses of Virginia. — Assembly dissolved. — 
The members foim an association. — General measures against 
importation. — General court convened in Massachusetts. — 
Its proceedings. — Is prorogued. — Duties, except that on tea, 
repealed. — Circular letter of the earl of Hillsborough. — New 

York recedes from the non-importation agreement in part 

Her example followed. — Riot in Boston. — Trial and acquittal 
of Captain Preston. - - Page 350 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Insurrection in North Carolina — Dissatisfaction of Massachu- 
setts. — Corresponding committees. — Governor Hutchinson's 
correspondence communicated by Dr. Franklin. — The assem- 
bly petition for his removal. — He is succeeded by general 
Gage. — Measures to enforce the act concerning duties. — Fer- 
ment in America. — The tea thrown into the sea at Boston. — 
Measures of Parliament. — General enthusiasm in America. 
— A general congress proposed. — General Gage arrives. — 
Troops stationed on Boston neck. — New counsellors and 
judges. — Obliged to resign. — Boston neck fortified. — Military 
stores seized by general Gage. — Preparations for defence. — 
King's speech. — Proceedings of Parliament. — Battle of Lex- 
ington. — Massachusetts raises men. — Meeting of Congress. 
— Proceedings of that body — Transactions in Virginia. — 
Provincial congress of South Carolina. — Battle of Breed's 
hill. ----- 395 



A HISTORY 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



CHAPTER I. 



Commission of Cabot. — His voyage to America. — ■ 
Views of discovery relinquished by Henry VII. — 
Resumed by Elizabeth, — Letters patent to Sir 
Humphry Gilbert. — His voyages and death. — Pa- 
tent to Sir Walter Raleigh. — Voyage of Sir Richard 
Grenville. — Colonists carried back to England by 
Drake. — Grenville arrives xvith other colonists. — 
They are left on Roanoke Island. — Are destroyed 
by the Indians. — Arrival of John White. — He re- 
turns to England for succour. — Raleigh assigns his 
patent. — Patent to Sir Thomas Gates and others. 
— Code of laws for the proposed colony draxVn up 
by the King. 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex- 
tend, on the Atlantic, from the bay of Passamaquoddi 
in the the 45th, to cape Florida in the 25th, degree of 
north latitude; and thence, on the gulph of Mexico, in- 
B 



10 HISTORY OF THE 

eluding the small adjacent islands, to the mouth of the 
Sabine, in the 17th degree of west longitude from 
Washington. From the mouth of the Sabine to the 
Rocky mountains, they are separated from Spanish 
America by a line which pursues an irregular north 
western direction to the 42d degree of north latitude, 
whence it proceeds west, to the Pacific. On the north 
they are bounded by the British provinces; from 
which, between the Lake of the Woods and the 
Rocky, or Stony mountains, they are separated by the 
49th parallel of north latitude. Their northern boun- 
dary, west of these mountains, has not yet been ad- 
justed. 

The extent of this vast Republic, in consequence 
of its recent acquisition of almost unexplored territory, 
has not yet been accurately ascertained ; but may be 
stated at two millions of square miles. 

Its population, which began on the Atlantic, and is 
travelling rapidly westward, amounted in 1820, ac- 
cording to the census of that year, to nine millions six 
hundred and fifty four thousand four hundred and fif- 
teen persons. The enumerations which have been 
made under the authority of government, show an 
augmentation of numbers at the rate of about thirty-' 
four per centum^ in ten years ; and it is probable, that 
for many years to come, this ratio will not be materi- 
ally changed. 

Public sentiment, to which the policy of the go- 

• The general estimate in the United States is, that their population doubles 
in twenty-five years. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 11 

vernment conforms, is opposed to a large military es- 
tablishment ; and the distance of the United States 
from the great powers of the world, protects them 
from the danger to which this policy might otherwise 
expose them. 

The navy has become an object of great interest to 
the nation, and may be expected to grow with its re- 
sources. In April 1816, Congress passed an act ap- 
propriating one million of dollars annually, to its gradu- 
al increase ; and authorising the construction of nine 
ships, to rate not less than seventy-four guns each, md 
of tvvelve, to rate not less than forty-four guns each. 
The execution of this act is in rapid progress. In- 
considerable as the navy now is, with respect to the 
number and force of its ships, it is deemed inferior to 
none in existence for the bravery and skill of its offi- 
cers and men. When we take into view the exten- 
sive sea coast of the United States, the magnificent 
lakes, or inland seas, which form a considerable part 
of their northern frontier, the abundance of their ma- 
terials for ship building, and the genius of their popu- 
lation for maritime enterprise, it is not easy to resist 
the conviction that this bulwark of defence will, at no 
very distant period, attain a size and strength sufficient 
to ensure the safety of the nation and the respect of 
the world. 

The net revenue of the United States amounted, 
in the year 1822, to considerably more than twenty 
millions of dollars ; and, unless a course of legislation 
unfavourable to its augmentation be adopted, must 
grow with their population. 



13 HISTORY OF THE 

In arts, in arms, and in power, they have advanced, 
and are advancing, with unexampled rapidity. 

The history of their progress, from the first feeble 
settlements made by Europeans on a savage coast, 
to their present state of greatness ; while it has just 
claims to the attention of the curious of all nations, 
may be expected deeply to interest every American. 

Soon after the return of Columbus from that me- 
morable voyage which opened the vast regions of the 
west to civilised man, the maritime states of Europe 
manifested a desire to share with Spain, the glory, 
the wealth, and the dominion to be acquired in the 
new world. By no one of these states, was this de- 
sire carried into action more promptly than by Eng- 
land. Henry VII. had received communications from 
Columbus, during the tedious and uncertain negotia- 
tions of that great man, at the dilatory court of Ferdi- 
nand, which prepared him for the important discove- 
ries afterwards made, and inclined him to countenance 
the propositions of his own subjects for engaging in 
similar adventures. On the 5th of March 1495, he 
Commis- grranted a commission to John Cabot, an enterprising 

sion of Ca- ° . . 1 t> 

bot. Venetian who had settled in Bristol, and to his three 

sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, empowering 
them, or either of them, to sail under the banner of 
England, towards the east, north, or west, in order 
to discover countries unoccupied by any christian 
state, and to take possession of them in his name. 

It does not appear that the expedition contemplated 
at the date of this commission was prosecuted imme- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 13 ^^ 

diately ; but in May 1496, Cabot, with his second son, 
Sebastian, sailed from Bristol in a small squadron, H's voyage 
consisting of one ship furnished by the King, and 
four barks fitted out by merchants of that city ; and, 
steering almost due west, discovered the islands of 
Newfoundland and St. Johns, and, soon afterward, 
reached the continent of North America, along which 
he sailed from the fifty sixth to the thirty eighth de- 
gree of north latitude, in the vain hope of discovering 
a passage into the Pacific. 

Thus, according to the English historians, was 
first discovered that immense continent which 
stretches from the gulph of Mexico as far north as 
has yet been explored ; and to this voyage, the Eng- 
lish trace their tide to the country they afterwards ac- 
quired by settlement, and by arms. 

France, which has since contested with Britain the 
possession of a considerable portion of this important 
territory, has also advanced claims to its discovery ; 
but they seem not to be well founded. 

The ardour which had been excited in the bosom The schfme 

r TT r 1 • • • • -1 , , <^ making 

of Henry tor making acquisitions in the new world, settlements 
expired with this first effort. Cabot, on his return, ed.""*"'*'" 
found that monarch entirely disinclined to the farther 
prosecution of a scheme in which he had engaged 
with some zeal, the commencement of which liad 
been attended with encouraging appearances. 

Several causes are supposed to have contributed to 
suspend the pursuits of the English in America. 
Previous to its discovery, the Portuguese had explor- 



14; HISTORY OF THE 

ed the Azores, or Western Islands; in consequence of 
which they claimed this continent, and contended for 
the exclusion of the Spaniards from the Western 
Ocean. The controversy was decided by the Pope, 
who, on the 7th of May 1493, of his own " mere libe- 
rality and certain knowledge, and the plenitude of 
apostolic authority," granted to Spain, the countries 
discovered or to be discovered by her, to the west- 
ward of a line to be drawn from pole to pole, a hun- 
dred leagues west of the Azores ; (excepting such 
countries as might be in the possession of any other 
christian prince antecedent to the year 1493 ;) and to 
Portugal, her discoveries eastward of that line. 

The validity of this grant was probably strength- 
ened, in the opinion of Henry, by other circum- 
stances. He set a high value on the friendship of the 
King of Spain, with whom he was then negotiating 
the marriage which afterwards took place between 
his eldest son and Catharine, the daughter of that 
monarch. Ferdinand was jealous to excess of all his 
rights ; and Henry was not inclined to interrupt the 
harmony subsisting between the two crowns, by as- 
serting claims to the country discovered by Cabot, 
which was obviously within the limits to which the 
pretensions of Spain extended. 

The fisheries of Newfoundland were carried on 

by individuals, to a considerable extent, and a paltry 

traffic was continued with the natives ; but no serious 

Renewed desigu of acquiring territory, and planting colonies in 

bJt,^"'^*' America was formed until the reign of Elizabeth, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 15 

when a plan for making permanent settlements was 
proposed and patronised by several persons of rank 
and influence. To select a man qualified for this ar- 
duous task, and disposed to engage in it, was among 
the first objects to which their attention was directed. 
Sir Humphry Gilbert had rendered himself conspi- 
cuous by his military services, and by a treatise con- 
cerning the north-west passage, in which great inge- 
nuity and learning, are stated by Dr. Robertson, to 
be mingled with the enthusiasm, the credulity, and 
sanguine expectation which incite men to new and 
hazardous undertakings. On this gentleman the ad- 
venturers turned their eyes, and he was placed at the 
head of the enterprise. On the 11th of June 1578, 
he obtained letters patent from the Queen, vesting in 
him the powers that were required ; on receiving 
which, he, with the associates of his voyage, embark- 
ed for America. But his success did not equal his 
expectations. The various difficulties inseparable 
from the settlement of a distant, unexplored country, 
inhabited only by savages ; the inadequacy of the 
supplies which could be furnished for a colony by 
the funds of a few private individuals ; the misfortune 
of having approached the continent too far towards 
the north, where the cold barren coast of cape Breton 
was rather calculated to repel than invite a settle- 
ment; have been assigned as the probable causes of 
his failure,* 

• Robertson. Chalmci 



16 " HISTORY OF THE 

Two expeditions conducted by this gentlenaan 
ended disastrously. In the last, he himself perished ; 
having done nothing farther in the execution of his 
patent, than taking possession of the island of New- 
foundland, in the name of Elizabeth. 

Sir Walter Raleigh, alike distinguished by his ge- 
nius, his courage, and the severity of his fate, had been 
deeply interested in the adventures in which his half 
brother. Sir Humphry Gilbert, had wasted his fortune, 
and was not deterred by their failure, or by the dif- 
ficulties attending such an enterprise, from prosecut- 
ing with vigour, a plan so well calculated to captivate 
his bold and romantic temper. 
1584 On the 26th of March, he obtained a patent from 
Sir Walter the Quccn ; and, on the 27th of April, dispatched two 
^ *^'^ * small vessels under the command of captains Amidas 
and Barlow for the purpose of visiting the country, 
and of acquiring some previous knowledge of those 
circumstances which might be essential to the wel- 
fare of the colony he was about to plant. To avoid 
the error of Gilbert in holding too far north, Amidas 
and Barlow took the route by the Canaries, and the 
West India islands, and approached the North Ame- 
rican continent towards the gulph of Florida. On 
the 2d of July, they touched at a small island situate 
on the inlet into Pamplico sound, whence they pro- 
ceeded to Roanoke, near the mouth of Albemarle 
sound. 

After employing a few weeks in traffic with the In- 
dians, from whom thev collected some confused ac- 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 17 

counts respecting the neighbouring continent, they 
took with them two of the natives, who willingly ac- 
companied them, and embarked for England, where 
they arrived on the 15th of September. The splen- 
did description which they gave of the soil, the cli- 
mate, and the productions of the country they had 
visited, so pleased Elizabeth, that she bestowed on it 
the name of Virginia, as a memorial that it had been 
discovered during the reign of a virgin Queen. ^ Ra- 
leigh, encouraged by their report to hasten his prepa- 
rations for taking possession of the property, fitted out 
a squadron consisting of seven small ships, laden with 
arms, ammunition, provisions, and passengers, which 
sailed from Plymouth on the 9th of April, under the tsss 
command of Sir Richard Grenville, who was his re- Voyage of 

t • 1 1 • • I TT • Sir Richard 

lation, and interested with him in the patent. Having cjrenviiie. 
taken the southern route, and wasted soma time in 
cruising against the Spaniards, Sir Richard did not 
reach the coast of North America, until the close of 
the month of June. He touched at both the islands 
on which Amidas and Barlow had landed, and made 
some excursions into different paits of the continent 
around Pamplico, and x\lbemarle sounds. 

Having established a colony, consisting of one hun- First coio- 
dred and eight persons, in the island of Roanoke, an 
incommodious station, without any safe harbour, he 
committed the government of it to Mr. Ralph Lane; 
and, on the 25th of August, sailed for England.f 

» Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. t Ibid. 

c 



18 HISTORY OF THE 

An insatiate passion for gold, attended by an eager 
desire to find it in the bowels of the earth, for a long 
time the disease of Europeans in America, became 
the scourge of this feeble settlement. The English 
flattered themselves that the country they had disco- 
vered could not be destitute of those mines of the pre- 
cious metals with whkh Spanish America abounded. 
The most diligent researches were made in quest of 
them; and the infatuating hope of finding them stimu- 
lated the colonists to the utmost exertions of which 
they were capable. The Indians soon discerned the 
object for which they searched with so much avidity, 
and amused them v\ ith tales of rich mines in countries 
they had not yet explored. Seduced by this infor- 
mation, they encountered incredible hardships, and, in 
this vain search wasted that time which ought to have 
been employed in providing the means of future sub- 
sistence. Mutual suspicion and disgust between 
them and the natives ripened into open hostility ; and, 
the provisions brought from England being exhausted, 
they were under the necessity of resorting for food to 
the precarious supplies which could be drawn from 
the rivers and woods. , In this state of distress, they 
1586 were found, in June, by Sir Francis Drake, who was 
then returning from a successful expedition against 
the Spaniards in the West Indies. He agreed to sup- 
ply them with about one hundred men, four months 
provisions, and a small vessel ; but, before she could 
be brought into a place of security, and the men and 
stores disembarked, she was driven out to sea by a 



*^1: 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 19 

sudden and violent storm. Discouraged by this mis- 
fortune, and worn out with fatigue and famine, the Colonists 
colonists unanimously determined to abandon the co- back to 
lony, and were, at their own request, taken on board Drake! ^ 
the fleet which sailed hr England.* 

Thus terminated the first English colony planted 
in America. The only acquisition made by this ex- 
pensive experiment, was a better knowledge of the 
country and its inhabitants. 

A few days after the departure of Drake with Lane^'"e"''iie 

. plants a 

and his associates, a small vessel which had been second co- 
dispatched by Raleigh with a supply of provisions, 
reached its place of destination. Not finding the co- 
lonists, this vessel returned to England. Soon after 
its departure, Sir Richard Grenville arrived with three 
ships and ample supplies. Having searched in vain 
for the colonists he had left, and being unable to con- 
jecture their fate, he placed fifteen men in the island 
with provisions for two years, for the purpose of re- 
taining possession of the country, and returned to 
England. This small party was soon destroyed by°"i,™JJ|^ 
the Indians. ^''^'''' 

Not discouraged by the ill success which had thus 
far attended his efforts to make a settlement in Ame- 
rica, Raleigh, in the following year, fitted out three ^^^^ 
ships under the command of captain John White, 
and, it is said, directed the colony to be removed to 
the waters of the Chesapeake, which bay had been 

» Robertson, Chalmer. Stith. Smith. 



^0 HISTORY OF THE 

discovered by Lane in the preceding year. Instruct 
ed by calamity, he adopted more efficacious means 
for preserving and continuing the colony than had be- 
fore been used. The number of men was greater; 
they were accompanied by some women, and their 
supply of provisions was more abundant. Mr. 
"White was appointed their governor, twelve assistants 
were assigned him as a council, and a charter incor- 
porating them by the name of the governor and as- 
sistants of the city of Raleigh in Virginia, was grant- 
ed them. 
Third coio- Thus prepared for a permanent settlement, they 
nyariives. gj.j.j^,g^ j^ j^j|y ^^ Roanokc, where they received the 

melancholy intelligence of the loss of their country- 
men who had been left there by Sir Richard Gren- 
ville. They determined, however, to remain at the 
same place, and began to make the necessary prepa- 
rations for their accommodation. Aware of the dan- 
ger to be apprehended from the hostile disposition of 
their neighbours, they endeavoured to effect a recon- 
ciliation with the natives, one of whom, who had ac- 
companied Aroidas and Barlow to England, and who 
was distinguished by his unshaken attachment to the 
English, was christened, and styled Lord of Dassa 
Monpeake, an Indian nation in the neighbourhood.* 
About the same time the first child of English pa- 
rentage was born in America. She was the daughter 
of Ananias Dare, and, after the place of her birth, 
was named Virginia. 

• Robertson, Chalmer. Stith. Sraitli 



AMERICAN COLONIES. SI 

^oon perceiving their want of many things essential 
to the preservation, and comfortable subsistence of a 
new settlement, the colonists, with one voice, deputed 
their governor, to solicit those specific aids which 
their situation particularly and essentially required. 
On his arrival in England, he found the whole nation 
alarmed at the formidable preparations for their inva- 
sion, made by Philip II. of Spain ; and Raleigh, Gren- 
ville, and the other patrons of the colony, ardently en- 
gaged in those measures of defence which the public 
danger demanded. Mingling, however, with his ex- 
ertions to defend his native country, some attention to 
the colony he had planted, Raleigh found leisure to 
fit out a small fleet for its relief, the command ot 
which was given to Sir Richard Grenville ; but, the 
apprehensions from the Spanish armament still in- 
creasing, the ships of force prepared by Raleigh were 
detained in port by order of the Queen, and Sir Rich- 
ard Grenville was commanded not to leave Cornwall, 
where his services were deemed necessary. On the 
22d of April, White put to sea with two small barks, 
but, instead of hastening to the relief of his distressed 
countrymen, wasted his time in cruising ; and, being 
beaten by a superior force, was totally disabled from 
prosecuting his voyage.* 

The attention of Raleish beine; directed to other i^sq 

° '^ Raleigh as- 

more splendid objects, he assigned his patent to Sirs'gnshis 
Thomas Smith and a company of merchants in Lon- 
don. 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith Smith, 



la8& 



S3 HISTORY OF THE 

After this transfer, a )'^ear was permitted to elapse 
before any effort was made for the relief of the colo- 
1590 ny. In March, three ships fitted out by the company, 
in one of which Mr. White embarked, sailed from 
Third coio- Plymouth ; but, having cruelly and criminally \\ asted 
their time in plundering the Spaniards in the West 
Indies, they did not reach Hatteras until the month of 
August. They fired a gun to give notice of their ar- 
rival, and sent a party to the place where the colony 
had been left; but no vestige of their countrymen could 
be found. In attempting the next day to go to Ro- 
anoke, one of the boats^ in passing a bar, was half fill- 
ed with water, another was overset, and six men were 
drowned. Two other boats were fitted out with 
nineteen men to search the island thoroughly on 
which the colony had been left. 

At the departure of Mr. White, it was in contem- 
plation to remove about fifty miles into the country ; 
and it had been agreed that, should the colonists leave 
the island, they would carve the name of the place to 
which they should remove, on some tree, door, or 
post ; with the addition of a cross over it, as a signal 
of distress, if they should be really distressed at the 
time of changing their situation. After considerable 
search, the word CROxVFANvva^found carved in fair 
capital letters on one of the chief posts, but unaccom- 
panied by the sign of distress which had been agreed 
on. 

Croatan was the name of an Indian town on the 
north side of Cape Lookout, and for that place, the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 23 

fleet weighed anchor the next day. Meeting with a 
storm, and several accidents, they were discouraged 
from proceeding on their voyage, and, determining to 
suspend their search, returned to the West Indies. 

The company made no farther attempt to find these 
lost colonists ; nor has the time or the manner of their 
perishing ever been discovered.* 

The subsequent voyages made by the English to 
North America were for the sole purpose of traffic, 
and were unimportant in their consequences, until the 
year 1602, when one was undertaken by Bartholomew iG'^2 

* VoyagrtJ ot 

Gosnald, which contributed greatly to the revival of GosuaM. 
the then dormant spirit of colonising in the new world. 
He sailed from Falmouth in a small bark with thirty 
two men ; and steering nearly west, reached the Ame- 
rican continent, on the 11th of May, in about forty 
three degrees of north latitude. 

Finding no good harbour at this place, Gosnald 
put to sea again and stood southward. The next 
morning, he descried a promontory which he called 
cape Cod, and, holding his course along the coast as 
it stretched to the south west, touched at two islands, 
the first of which he named Martha's Vineyard, and 
the second, Elizabeth's Island. Having passed some 
time at these places, examining the country, and tra- 
ding with the natives, he returned to England. f 

This voyage was completed in less than four 
months, and was attended with important consequen- 

* Robertson. Clialraer. Stilh, t Ibid. 



^4 HISTORY OF THE 

ces. Gosnald had found a healthy climate, a rich 
soil, good harbours, and a route which shortened con- 
siderably the distance to the continent of North Ame- 
rica. He had seen many of the fruits known and 
prised in Europe, blooming in the woods ; and had 
planted European grain which grew rapidly. Encour- 
aged by this experiment, and delighted with the 
country, he formed the resolution of transporting thi- 
ther a colony, and of procuring the co-operation of 
others by whom his plan might be supported. So 
unfortunate however had been former attempts of 
this sort, that men of wealth and rank, though strong- 
ly impressed by his report of the country, were slow 
in giving full faith to his representations, and in enter- 
ing completely into his views. One vessel was fitted 
out by the merchants of Bristol, and another by the 
earl of Southampton, and lord Arundel of Wardour, 
in order to learn whether Gosnald's account of the 
country was to be considered as a just representation 
of its state, or as the exaggerated description of a per- 
son fond of magnifying his own discoveries. Both 
returned with a full confirmation of his veracity, and 
with the addition of so many new circumstances in 
favour of the country, as greatly increased the desire of 
settling it. 

Richard Hackluyt, prebendary of Westminster, a 
man of distinguished learning and intelligence, con- 
tributed more than any other by his judicious exer- 
tions, to form an association sufficiently extensive, 
powerful, and wealthy, to execute the often renewed. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S5 

and often disappointed project of establishing colonies 
in America. 

At length, such an association was formed ; and a *^'^^* 
petition was presented to James I., who had succeed- 
ed to the crown of England, praying the royal sanc- 
tion to the plan which was proposed. That pacific 
monarch was delighted with it, and immediately ac- 
ceded to the wishes of its projectors. 

On the 10th of April, letters patent were issued un- Patent to 
der the great seal of England, to the petitioners. Sir Gates and 
Thomas Gates and his associates, granting to them°^ ^"^^" 
those territories in America, lying on the sea coast, 
between the 34th and 45th degrees of north latitude, 
and which either belonged to that monarch, or were 
not then possessed by any other Christian prince or 
people ; and also the islands adjacent thereto, or with- 
in one hundred miles thereof. They were divided, 
at their own desire, into two companies. One, con- 
sisting of certain knights, gentlemen, merchants, and 
other adventurers of the city of London, and else- 
where, was called the first colony, and was required to 
settle between the 34th and 41st degrees of north lati- 
tude ; the other, consisting of certain knights, gentle- 
men, merchants, and other adventurers of Bristol, 
Exeter, Plymouth, and elsewhere, was named the 
second colony, and was ordered to settle between the 
38th and 45th degrees of north latitude ; yet so that 
the colony last formed should not be planted within 
one hundred miles of the prior establishment. 

The adventurers were empowered to transport so 
D 



S6 HISTORY OF THE 

many English subjects as should be wilHng to ac- 
company them, who, with their descendants, were, 
at all times, to enjoy the same liberties, within any 
other dominions of the crown of England, as if they 
had remained, or were born, within the realm. A 
council consisting of thirteen, to be appointed and 
removed at the pleasure of the crown, was established 
for each colony, to govern it according to such laws 
as should be given under the sign manual and privy 
seal of England. Two other boards to consist also 
of thirteen persons each, and to be appointed by the 
King, were invested with the superior direction of 
the affairs of the colonies. 

The adventurers were allowed to search for, and 
open mines of gold, silver, and copper, yielding one- 
fifth of the two former metals, and one-fifteenth of the 
last, to the King j and to make a coin which should 
be current both among the colonists and natives. 

The president and council were authorised to re- 
pel those who should, without their authority, attempt 
to setde, or trade, within their jurisdiction, and to 
seize, and detain the persons, and eftects, of such in- 
truders, until they should pay a duty of two and one 
half per centum ad valorem, if subjects, but of five 
per centum if aliens. These taxes were to be applied, 
for twenty-one years, to the use of the adventurers, 
and were afterwards to be paid into the royal ex- 
chequer. 
Code of While the council for the patentees were employed 

laws for the , . * . 

colony in makinq; preparations to secure the benefits of their 

drawn up t • i i i • i 

by the king, grant, Jamcs was assiduously engaged m the new, 



AMERICAN COLONIES 27 

and, to his vanity, the flattering task of framing a code 
of laws for the government of the colonies about to be 
planted. Having at length prepared this code, he is- 
sued it under the sign manual, and privy seal of Eng- 
land. By these regulations, he vested the general 
superintendence of the colonies, in a council in Eng- 
land, " composed of a few persons of consideration 
and talents." The church of England was establish- 
ed. The legislative and executive powers within the 
colonies, were vested in the president and councils ; 
but their ordinances were not to touch life or mem- 
ber, were to continue in force only until made void 
by the King, or his council in England for Virginia, ! 

and were to be in substance, consonant to the laws of 
England. They were enjoined to permit none to 
withdraw the people from their allegiance to himself, 
and his successors ; and to cause all persons so offend- 
ing to be apprehended, and imprisoned until refor- 
mation ; or, in cases highly offensive, to be sent to 
England to receive punishment. No person was to 
be permitted to remain in the colony without taking 
the oath of obedience. Tumults, mutiny, and rebel- 
lion, murder, and incest, were to be punished with 
death ; and for these offences, the criminal was to be 
tried by a jury. Inferior crimes were to be punished 
in a summary way, at the discretion of the president 
and council. 

Lands were to be holden within the colony as the 
same estates were enjoyed in England. Kindness to- 



**!: 



. HISTORY OF THE 

wards the heathen was enjoined ; and a power reserv- 
ed to the King, and his successors to ordain farther 
laws, so that they were consonant to the jurisprudence 
of England.* 

Under this charter, and these laws, which mani- 
fest, at the same time, a total disregard of all political 
liberty, and a total ignorance of the real advantages 
which a parent state may derive from its colonies ; 
which vest the higher powers of legislation in persons 
residing out of the country, not chosen by the peo- 
ple, nor affected by the laws they make, and yet 
leave commerce unrestrained ; the patentees proceed- 
ed to execute the arduous and almost untried task 
of peopling a strange, distant, and uncultivated land, 
covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited only 
by savages easily irritated, and when irritated, more 
fierce than the beasts they hunted. 

* Robertson, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 29 



CHAPTER II. 



Voyage of Newport. — Settlement at Jamestown, — 
Distress of colonists. — Smith. — He is captured by 
the Indians. — Condemned to deaths saved by Poca- 
hontas. — Returns to Jamestown. — Newport arrives 
with fresh settlers. — S7nith explores the Chesa- 
peake. — Is chosen president. — New charter. — Third 
voyage of Newport. — Smith sails for Europe. — 
Condition of the colony. — Colonists determine to 
abandon the country. — Are stopped by Lord Dela- 
ware. — Sir Thomas Dale. — New charter. — Capt. 
Argal seizes Pocahontas. — She marries Mr. Rolf 
— Separate property in lands and labour. — Expe- 
dition against Port Royal. — Against Manfiadoes. — 
Fifty acres of land for each settler. — Tobacco. — ■ 
Sir Thomas Dale. — Mr. Yeardley. — First assem- 
bly. — First arrival of females. — Of convicts. — OJ 
African slaves. — Txvo cou?jcils established. — Pros- 
perity of the colony. — I?jdiatis attempt to massacre 
the whites. — General war. — Dissolution of the com- 
pany. — Arbit7'ary measures of the c?'oxvn. — Sir John 
Harvey. — Sir TFilliam Berkeley. — Provincial as- 
sembly restored. — Virginia declares in favour of 
Charles II.— -Grant to Lord Baltimoi'e. — Arrival of 
a colony in Maryland. — Assembly composed of free- 
men. — William Claybourne. — Assembly composed 
of representatives. — Divided into two branches. — 
Tyrannical proceedings. 



30 HISTORY OF THE 

1606. The funds immediately appropriated to the plant= 
ing of colonies in America, were inconsiderable, and 
the early efforts to accomplish the object, were feeble. 
The first expedition for the southern colony con- 
sisted of one vessel of a hundred tons, and two barks, 
carrying one hundred and five men, destined to re- 
main in the country. 
Voyage of The commaud of this small squadron was given to 
*.ewport. ^.gp^^jj^ Newport, who, on the 19th of December, 
sailed from the Thames. Three sealed packets were 
delivered to him, one addressed to himself, a second 
to captain Bartholomew Gosnald, and the third to 
captain John Radcliffe, containing the names of the 
council for this colony. These packets were accom- 
panied with instructions directing that they should be 
opened, and the names of his Majesty's council pro- 
claimed, within twenty-four hours after their arrival 
on the coast of Virginia, and not before. The coun- 
cil were then to proceed to the choice of a president, 
who was to have two votes. To this unaccountable 
concealment have those dissentions been attributed, 
which distracted the colonists on their passage, and 
which afterwards impeded the progress of their set- 
tlement.* 

Newport, whose place of destination was Roanoke, 
took the circuitous route by the West India islands, 
and had a long passage of four months. The reck- 
oning had been out for three days, and serious propo- 

* Robertson. Chalmer, Stit|i. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 31 

sitions had been made for returning to England, when leor. 
a fortunate storm drove him to the mouth of theiothJl^he- 
Chesapeake. On the 26th of April, he descried cape^'*^*^' *"" 
Henry, and soon afterward cape Charles. A party of 
about thirty men, which went on shore at cape Henry, 
was immediately attacked by the natives, and, in the 
skirmish which ensued, several were wounded on 
both sides. 

The first act of the colonists was the selection of a 
spot for their settlement. They proceeded up a large 
river, called by the natives Powhatan, and agreed to 
make their first establishment upon a peninsula, on 
its northern side. In compliment to their sovereign, 
this place was named Jamestown, and the river was 
called James. Having disembarked, and opened the May isih. 
sealed packets brought from England, the members 
of the council proceeded to the election of a presi- 
dent, and Mr. Wingfield was chosen. But, under 
frivolous pretexts, they excluded from his seat among 
them, John Smith, one of the most extraordinary men 
of his age, whose courage and talents had excited 
their envy. During the passage, he had been impri- 
soned on the extravagant charge of intending to mur- 
der the council, usurp the government, and make 
himself king of Virginia.* 

The first indications of a permanent settlement in 
their country, seem to have excited the jealousy of 
the natives. Displeased with the intrusion, or dissa- 

' ' Robertson. Chalmer, Stith. 



-^S^Tlf^l 



HISTORY OF THE 

tisfied with the conduct of the intruders, they soon 
formed the design of expelling, or destroying, these 
unwelcome and formidable visitors. In execution of 
this intention, they attacked the colonists suddenly, 
while at work, and unsuspicious of their hostility ; but 
were driven, terrified, into the woods by the fire from 
the ship. On the failure of this attempt, a temporary 
accommodation was effected. 

Newport, though named of the council, had been 
ordered to return to England. As the time of his de« 
parture approached, the accusers of Smith, attempting 
to conceal their jealousy by the affectation of humani- 
ty, proposed that he also should return, instead of be- 
ing prosecuted in Virginia ; but, with the pride of 
conscious innocence, he demanded a trial ; and, being 
honourably acquitted, took his seat in the council. 

About the 15th of June, Newport, sailed for Eng- 
land, leaving behind him one of the barks, and about 
one hundred colonists. While he remained, they had 
partaken of the food allowed the sailors ; but after his 
departure, they were reduced to the necessity of sub- 
sisting on the distributions from the public stores, 
which had sustained great damage during their long 
passage. These were both scanty, and unwholesome ; 
the allowance to each man, for a day, being only a 
pint of worm-eaten wheat and barley. This wretch- 
ed food increased the malignity of the diseases gene- 
rated by the climate, among men exposed to all its 
rigours. Before the month of September, fifty of the 
company were buried ; among whom was Bartholo- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 33 

mew Gosnald, who had planned the expedition, and chap, ii. 
had contributed greatly towards its prosecution. 
Their distress was increased by internal dissention. 
The president was charged with embezzling the best 
stores of the colony, and with feasting at his private 
table, on beef, bread, and aqua vit^y while famine 
and death devoured his fellow adventurers. The 
odium against him was completed by the detection of 
an attempt to escape from them and their calamities, 
in the bark which had been left by Newport. In the 
burst of general indignation which followed the disco- 
very of this meditated desertion, he was deposed, and 
Radcliffe chosen to succeed him.* 

As misfortune is not unfrequently, the parent of mo- 
deration and reflection, this state of misery produced 
a system of conduct towards the neighbouring In- 
dians, which, for the moment, disarmed their resent- 
ments, and induced them to bring in such supplies 
as the country afforded at that season. It produced 
another effect of equal importance. A sense of immi- 
nent and common danger called forth those talents 
which were fitted to the exigency, and compelled sub- 
mission to them. On captain Smith, who had pre- 
served his health unimpaired, his spirits unbroken, 
and his judgment unclouded, amidst this general 
misery and dejection, all eyes were turned, and in 
him, all actual authority was placed by common con- 
sent. His example soon gave energy to others. 

• Stith. Smith, ' 



34} HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. H. Hq erected such rude fortifications as would resist 
the sudden attacks of the savages, and constructed 
such habitations as, by shehering the survivors from 
the weather, contributed to restore and preserve their 
heahh, while his own accommodation gave place to 
that of all others. In the season of gathering corn, 
he penetrated into the country at the head of small 
parties, and by presents and caresses to those who 
were well disposed, and by attacking with open force, 
and defeating those who were hostile, he obtained 
abundant suppHes. 

While thus actively and usefully employed abroad, 
he was not permitted to withdraw his attention from 
the domestic concerns of the colony. Incapacity for 
command is seldom accompanied by a willingness to 
relinquish power ; and it will excite no surprise that 
the late president saw, with regret, another placed 
above him. As unworthy minds most readily devise 
unworthy means, he sought, by intriguing with the 
factious, and fomenting their discontents, to regain his 
lost authority ; and when these attempts were dis- 
concerted, he formed a conspiracy v/ith some of the 
principal persons in the colony, to escape in the bark, 
and thus to desert the country. The vigilance of Smith 
detected these machinations, and his vigour defeated 
them.* 

The prospect which now presented itself of pre- 
serving the colony in quiet and plenty, until supplies 
could be received from England, was obscured by 

• Stith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 35 

an event which threatened, at first, the most disas- ^^^^- ": 
trous consequences. In attempting to explore Chic- 
cahomini river to its source, Smith was discover- smith is 
ed and attacked by a numerous body of Indians ; and I'he iSS 
in endeavouring, after a gallant defence, to make his 
escape, he sank up to his neck in a swamp, and was 
obliged to surrender. The wonder and veneration 
which he excited by the exhibition of a mariner's 
compass, saved him from immediate death. He 
was conducted in triumph, through several towns, to 
the palace of Powhatan, the most potent king in that 
part of the country, who doomed him to be put toiscondemn- 
death by placing his head upon a stone, and beating'' '°'^^^'' 
out his brains with a club. At the place of execu- 
tion, with his head bowed down to receive the blow, 
he was rescued from a fate which appeared to be 
inevitable, by that enthusiastic and impassioned hu- 
manity which, in every climate, and in every state of 
society, finds its home in the female bosom. Poca- 
hontas, the king's favourite daughter, then about thir- 
teen years of age, whose entreaties for his life had pjcahomas. 
been ineffectual, rushed between him and the execu- 
tioner, and folding his head in her arms, and laying 
hers upon it, arrested the fatal blow. Her father was 
then prevailed upon to spare his life, and he was sent 
back to Jamestown.* 

On arriving at that place, after an absence of seven ReturDs to 
weeks, he found the colony reduced to thirty-eight 



Stith. 



36 HISTORY OF THR 

CHAP, n. persons^ who seemed determined to abandon a coun- 
try which appeared to them so unfavourable to human 
life. He came just in time to prevent the execution 
of this design. Alternately employing persuasion, 
threats, and even violence, he induced the majority to 
relinquish their intention ; then turning the guns of 
the fort on the bark, on board which were the most 
determined, he compelled her to remain, or sink in 
the river.* 

By a judicious regulation of intercourse with the 
Indians, over whom he had gained considerable in- 
fluence, he restored plenty to the colony, and pre- 
served it until the arrival of two vessels which had 
been dispatched from England under the command 
of captain Newport, with a supply of provisions and 
instruments of husbandry, and with a reinforcement 
of one hundred and twenty persons, composed of 
many gentlemen, several refiners, gold smiths, and 
jewellers, and a few labourers. 

The influence of Smith disappeared with the dan- 
ger which had produced it, and was succeeded by an 
improvident relaxation of discipline, productive of the 
most pernicious consequences.f 
A glittering About this time, a shining earth, mistaken by the 
Sn T.^ colonists for gold dust, was found in a small stream 
gold dust. ^j. vvater near Jamestown. Their raging thirst for 
gold was re-excited by this incident. Stith, in his 
History of Virginia, describing the phrenzy of the 

• Stith. t Ibid. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 37 

moment, says, " there was no thought, no discourse, chap, ii. 
no hope, and no work, but to dig gold, wash gold, 
refine gold, and load gold. And, notwithstanding 
captain Smith's warm and judicious representations 
how absurd it was to neglect other things of imme- 
diate use and necessity, to load such a drunken ship 
with gilded dust, yet was he over-ruled, and her re- 
turns were made in a parcel of glittering dirt, which 
is to be found in various parts of the country, and 
which they, very sanguinely, concluded to be gold 
dust." 

The two vessels returned laden, one with this dirt, leos. 
and the other with cedar. This is the first remittance 
ever made from America by an English colony. 

The effects of this fatal delusion were soon felt, and 
the colony again began to suffer that distress, from 
scarcity of food, which had before brought it, more 
than once, to the brink of ruin. 

The researches of the English setders had not yet 
extended beyond the country adjacent to James river. 
Smith had formed the bold design of exploring the Smith ex- 
great bay of Chesapeake, examining the mighty rivers chesL* ^ 
which empty into it, opening an intercourse with the^*^"* ^" 
nations inhabiting their borders, and acquiring a 
knowledge of the state of their cultivation and popu- 
lation. Accompanied by Doctor Russel, he engaged 
in this hardy enterprise in an open boat of about three 
tons burthen, and with a crew of thirteen men. On 
the 2d of June, he descended the river in company 
with the last of Newport's two vessels, and, parting 



38 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. 11 . ^yjfV, jjgj. 31 the capes, began his survey at cape 
Charles. With great fatigue and danger, he examin- 
ed every river, inlet, and bay, on both sides of the 
Chesapeake, as far as the mouth of the Rappahan- 
nock. His provisions being exhausted, he returned, 
and arrived at Jamestown on the 21st of July- He 
found the colony in the utmost confusion and disor- 
der. All those who came last with Newport were 
sick ; the danger of famine was imminent ; and the 
clamour against the president was loud, and universal. 
The seasonable arrival of Smith restrained their fury. 
The accounts he gave of his discoveries, and the hope 
he entertained that the waters of the Chesapeake 
communicated with the south sea,* extended their 
views and revived their spirits. They contented 
themselves with deposing their president, and, having 
in vain urged Smith to accept that office, elected his 
friend Mr. Scrivener as vice president. 

After employing three days in making arrange- 
ments for obtaining regular supplies, and for the go- 
vernment of the colony. Smith again sailed with twelve 
men, to complete his researches into the countries on 
the Chesapeake. 

From this voyage he returned on the seventh of 
September ; having advanced as far as the river Sus- 
quehannah, and visited all the countries on both shores 
of the bay. He entered most of the large creeks, 
sailed up many of the great rivers to their falls, and 

* This error might very possibly be produced by the Indians representing 
the great western lakes as seas. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 39 

made accurate observations on the extensive territories chap, n. 
through which he passed, and on the various tribes 
inhabiting them, with whom he, alternately, fought, 
negotiated, and traded. In every situation, he dis- 
played judgment, courage, and that presence of mind 
which is essential to the character of a commander ; 
and never failed, finally, to inspire the savages he 
encountered, with the most exalted opinion of himself 
and of his nation. 

When we consider that he sailed above three thou- 
sand miles in an open boat ; when we contemplate 
the dangers and the hardships he encountered ; when 
we reflect on the valuable additions he made to the 
stock of knowledge respecting America ; we shall 
not hesitate to say that few voyages of discovery, un- 
dertaken at any time, reflect more honour on those 
engaged in them. " So full and exact," says Dr. 
Robertson, " are his accounts of that large portion of 
the American continent comprehended in the two 
provinces of Virginia and Maryland, that after the 
progress of information and research for a century 
and a half, his map exhibits no inaccurate view of 
both countries, and is the original, on which all sub- 
sequent delineations and descriptions have been 
formed .* 

On his return from this expedition, Smith was is chosen 
chosen president of the council ; and, yielding to the ^'^"* *"'" 
general wish, accepted the office. Soon after, New- 

• Dr. Robertson must allude to the country below the falls of the great 
rivers. 



40 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. II. pnrf arrived with an additional supply of settlers, 
among whom were the two first females who adven- 
tured to the present colony ; but he came without 
provisions. 

The judicious administration of the president, how- 
ever, supplied the wants of the colonists, and restrain- 
ed the turbulent. Encouraged by his example, and 
coerced by his authority, a spirit of industry and sub- 
ordination was created among them, which was the 
parent of plenty and of peace.* 

The company in England, though disappointed in 
the hope of discovering a passage to the Pacific, and 
of finding mines of the precious metals, still indulged 
in golden dreams of future wealth. To increase their 
funds, as well as their influence and reputation, by the 
acquisition of additional numbers, to explain and en- 
large their powers and privileges, and to ensure a co- 
lonial government conforming to their own views and 
wishes, the company petitioned for a new charter, 
1609. which was granted on the 23d of May. Some of the 
first nobility and gentry of the country, and most of 
the companies of London, with a numerous body of 
merchants and tradesmen, were added to the former 

New Char- advcuturcrs, and they were all incorporated, by the 
name of " The treasurer and company of adventurers 
of the city of London, for the first colony in Virgi- 
nia." To them were granted, in absolute property, 
the lands extending from Cape or Point Comfort, 

• Robertson. Chalmer. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 41 



lti09. 



along the sea coast, two hundred miles to the north- P"^^- "■ 
ward, and from the same point, along the sea coast, 
two hundred miles to the southward, and up into the 
land, throughout, from sea to sea, west and north 
west; and also all the islands lying within one hun- 
dred miles of the coast of both seas of the precinct 
aforesaid : to be holden as of the manor of East Green- 
wich, in free and common soccage, and paying, in 
lieu of all services, one-fifth of the gold and silver that 
should be found. The corporation was authorised to 
convey, under its common seal, particular portions of 
these lands to subjects or denizens, on such condi- 
tions as might promote the intentions of the grant. 
The powers of the president and council in Virginia 
were abrogated, and a new council in England was 
established, w ith power to the company to fill all va- 
cancies therein by election. This council was em- 
powered to appoint and remove all officers for the co- 
lony, and to make all ordinances for its government, 
not contrary to the laws of England ; and to rule the 
colonists according to such ordinances. License was 
given to transport to Virginia, all persons willing to 
go thither, and to export merchandise free from cus- 
toms for seven years. There was also granted, for 
twenty-one years, freedom from all subsidies in Vir- 
ginia, and from all impositions on importations and 
exportations from or to any of the King's dominions, 
" except only the five pounds in the hundred due for 
customs." The colonists were declared to be en- 
titled to the rights of natural subjects. The gover- 
F 



4S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. II. pQj. yyas empowered to establish martial law in case of 
rebellion or mutiny ; and, to prevent the superstitions 
of the Church of Rome from taking root in the plan- 
tation, it was declared that none should pass into Vir- 
ginia, but such as shall have first taken the oath of 
supremacy.* 

The company, being thus enlarged, and enabled to 
take more effective measures for the settlement of the 
country, soon fitted out nine ships, with five hundred 
emigrants, Lord Delawar was constituted governor 
and captain-general for life ; and several other offices 
were created. The direction of the expedition was 
■™o?nIw- ^S^'" given to Newport; to whom, and Sir Thomas 
p°'"t' Gates, and Sir George Somers, powers were several- 
ly granted to supersede the existing administration, 
and to govern the colony until the arrival of Lord 
Delavvar. With singular indiscretion, the council 
omitted to establish precedence among these gentle- 
men ; who, being totally unable to setde this impor- 
tant point among themselves, agreed to embark on 
board the same vessel, and to be companions during 
the voyage. They were parted from the rest of the 
fleet in a storm, and driven on Bermudas ; having on 
board one hundred and fifty men, a great portion of 
the provisions destined for the colony, and the new 
commission and instructions of the council. The 
residue of the squadron arrived safely in Virginia. 

" A great part of the new company," says Mr. 
Stith, " consisted of unruly sparks, packed off by their 

* Charter. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 43 

friends to escape worse destinies at home. And thf chap, it. 
rest were chiefly made up of poor gentlemen, broken 
tradesmen, rakes and libertines, footmen, and such 
others as were much fitter to spoil and ruin a Com- 
monwealth, than to help to raise or maintain one. 
This lewd company, therefore, were led by their se- 
ditious captains into many mischiefs and extravagan- 
cies. They assumed to themselves the power of dis- 
posing of the government, and conferred it some- 
times on one, and sometimes on another. To day 
the old commission must rule, to-morrow the new, 
and next day neither. So that all was anarchy and 
distraction.'' 

The judgment of Smith was not long suspended. 
With the promptness and decision which belong to 
vigorous minds, he determined that his own autho- 
rity was not legally revoked until the arrival of the 
new commission, and therefore resolved to continue its 
exercise. Incapable of holding the reins of govern- 
ment with a feeble hand, he exhibited, on this emer- 
gency, that energy and good sense which never de- 
serted him when the occasion required them. After 
imprisoning the chief promoters of sedition, and there- 
by restoring regularity and obedience, he, for the 
double purpose of extending the colony, and of pre- 
venting the mischiefs to be apprehended from so 
many turbulent spirits collected in Jamestown, de- 
tached one hundred men to the falls of James river, 
under the command of West, and the same number 
to Nansemond, under that of Martin. These per- 



4^ HISTOllY OF THE 

CHAP. II. gnns conductcd their settlements with so Httle iudir- 
ment, that they soon converted all the neighbouring 
Indians into '•nemies. After losing several parties, 
they found themselves in absolute need of the sup- 
port and direction of Smith. These were readily af- 
forded, until a melancholy accident deprived the co- 
lony of the aid of a man whose talents had, more than 
once, rescued it from that desperate condition into 
which folly and vice had plunged it. Retiirning from 
a visit to the detachment stationed at the falls of James 
river, his powder bag took fire, while he was sleeping 
in the boat, and, in the explosion, he was so severely 
wounded as to be confined to his bed. Being unable 

Smith re- to obtain the aid of a surgeon in the colony, he em- 

Engiand. barked for England about the beginning of October. 

State of the At his departure, the colony consisted of about five 
° °"^ hundred inhabitants. They were furnished with three 
ships, seven boats, commodities ready for trade, ten 
weeks provision in the pul^lic stores, six mares and 
a horse, a large stock of hogs and poultry, some 
sheep and goats, utensils for agriculture, nets for fish- 
ing, one hundred trained and expert soldiers well ac- 
quainted with the Indians, their language and habita- 
tions, twenty-four pieces of ordnance, and three hun- 
dred muskets, with a sufficient quantity of arms and 
ammunition.* 

The fair prospects of the colony were soon blasted 
by a course of folly and crime, of riot and insubordi- 
nation - 

• Stilh-. 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 45 



Numerous pretenders advanced their claims to the 



CHAP, n . 

1609. 



supreme command. The choice at length fell upon 
captain Percy, who derived much consideration from 
his virtues, as well as from his illustrious family ; but 
his talents, at no time equal to this new and difficult 
station, were rendered still less competent to the task, 
by a long course of ill health. Being generally con- 
fined by sickness to his bed, he was incapable of 
maintaining his authority ; and total confusion en- 
sued, with its accustomed baneful consequences. 

The Indians, no longer awed by the genius and 
vigour of Smith, attacked the colony on all sides. 
West and Martin, after losing their boats and nearly 
half their men, were driven into Jamestown. The 
stock of provisions was lavishly wasted ; and famine 
added its desolating scourge to their other calamitieso 
After devouring the skins of their horses, and the In- 
dians they had killed, the survivors fed on those of 
their companions who had sunk under such accumu- 
lated misery. The recollection of these tremendous 
sufferings was long retained, and, for many years, 
this period was distinsjuished by the name of THE 
STARVING TIME.* 

In six months, the colony was reduced, by these 
distresses, to sixty persons, who could not have sur 
vived ten days longer, when they were relieved from 
this state of despair by the arrival of Sir Thomas 

. ' "^ . 1610. 

Gates, Sir George Somers, and captain Newport, May 24ih, 
from Bermuda. 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverlv. 



46 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IT. Xhe determination to abandon the country was im- 
They aban- mediately taken, and the wretched remnant of the co- 
country, lony embarked on board the vessels, and sailed for 
England. " None dropped a tear," says Mr. Chal- 
mer, " because none had enjoyed one day of happi- 
ness." 
Stopped by Fortunately, they met Lord Delawar, who prevail- 
vfsii: ed on them to return ; and, on the 10th of June, re- 
settled them at Jamestown. 

By mildness of temper, attention to business, and 
judicious exercise of authority, this nobleman restored 
order and contentment to the colony, and again im- 
pressed the Indians with respect for the English name. 
1611. Unfortunately, ill health obliged him to resign the go- 
vernment which he placed in the hands of Mr. Percy, 
and sailed for the West Indies, leaving in the colony 
about two hundred persons in possession of the bless- 
ings of health, plenty, and peace. 
Sir Thomas On the 10th of May, Sir Thomas Dale, who had 

Dale. , . , , -^ ' . J . 1 

been appointed to the government, arrived with a 
fresh supply of men and provisions, and found the co- 
lony relapsing into a state of anarchy, idleness, and 
want. It required all the authority of the new gover- 
nor to maintain public order, and to compel the idle 
and the dissolute to labour. Some conspiracies hav- 
ing been detected, he proclaimed martial law, which 
was immediately put in execution. This severity 
was then deemed necessary, and is supposed to have 
saved the settlement.* 

• Robertson. Chalraer. Stith. Beverlv, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 47 

In the beginning of August, Sir Thomas Gates, ^"^^ ^^ 
who had been appointed to succeed Sir Thomas Dale, 
arrived with six ships, and a considerable supply of 
men and provisions. After receiving this addition to 
its numbers, the colony again extended itself up James 
river ; and several new settlements were made. 

Extravagant accounts of the fertility of Bermuda 
having reached England, the company became desir- 
ous of obtaining it as a place from which Virginia 
might be supplied with provisions. Application was 
therefore made to the crown for a new patent, to com- 
prehend this island : and, in March, a charter was is- Uh2. 

New Char. 

sued, granting to the treasurer and company all theicr. 
islands situate in the ocean within three hundred leagues 
of the coast of Virginia. By this charter, the corpo- 
ration was essentially new modelled. It was ordained 
that four general courts of the adventurers should be 
holden annually, for the determination of affairs of im- 
portance, and weekly meetings were directed, for the 
transaction of common business. To promote the 
effectual settlement of the plantation, license was given 
to open lotteries in any part of England.* 

These lotteries, which were the first ever drawn in 
England, brought twenty-nine thousand pounds into 
the treasury of the company. When they were dis- 
continued, in 1620, on the complaint of the House of 
Commons, they were declared to have " supplied the 
real food by which Virginia had been nourished.'' 

• Bobertson. Chalmer. Stilh. Beverly, 



48 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP, n. About this time an event took place which was fol- 
lowed by important consequences to the colony. Pro- 
visions in Jamestown continuing to be scarce, and 
supplies from the neighbouring Indians, with whom 
the English were often at war, being necessarily un- 
certain, captain Argal, with two vessels, was sent 
round to the Potowmac for a cargo of corn. While 
obtaining the cargo, he understood that Pocahontas, 
who had remained stedfast in her attachment to the 
English, had absented herself from the home of her 
father, and lay concealed in the neighbourhood. By 
bribing some of those in whom she confided, Arga! 
Captain prevailed on her to come on board his vessel, where 
seiles Po- she was detained respectfully, and brought to James- 
cahontas. ^^^,^^ ^^ ^^.^^ induced to take this step by the hope 
that the possession of Pocahontas would give the 
English an ascendancy over her father, who was 
known to doat on her. In this, however, he was dis- 
appointed. Powhatan offered corn and friendship, if 
they would first restore his daughter, but, with a lofti- 
ness of spirit which claims respect, rejected every 
proposition for conciliation which should not be pre- 
ceded by that act of reparation. 

During her detention at Jamestown, she made an 
impression on the heart of Mr. Rolf, a young gentle- 
man of estimation in the colony, who succeeded in 
gaining her affections. They were married with the 
consent of Powhatan, who was entirely reconciled to 
the English by that event, and continued, ever after, 
to be their sincere friend. This connexion led also 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 4-9 

to a treaty with the Chiccahominies, a brave and dar- chap, u . 

^ . .161^, 

ing tribe, who submitted themselves to the English, 
and became their tributaries.* 

About the same time, an important change took icjis. 
place in the internal arrangements of the colony. 

Heretofore no separate property in lands had been 
acquired, and no individual had laboured for himself. 
The lands had been held, cleared, and cultivated in 
common, and their produce carried into a common 
granary, from which it was distributed to all. This 
system was to be ascribed, in some measure, to the 
unwise injunction contained in the royal instructions, 
directing the colonists to trade together for five years 
in one common stock. Its effect was such as ought 
to have been foreseen. Industry, deprived of its due 
reward, exclusive property in the produce of its toil, 
felt no sufficient stimulus to exertion, and the public 
supplies were generally inadequate to the public ne- 
cessities. To remove this cause of perpetual scarci- 
ty, Sir Thomas Dale divided a considerable portion Separate 
of land into lots of three acres, and granted one of ranTs!*^'^ '" 
them, in fall property, to each individual. Although 
the colonists were still required to devote a large por- 
tion of labour to the public, a sudden change was 
made in their appearance and habits. Industry, im- 
pelled by the certainty of recompense, advanced with 
rapid strides ; and the inhabitants were no longer in 
fear of wanting bread, either for themselves, or for the 
emigrants from England. f 

» Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly. t Wem. 

G 



50 . HISTORY OF THE 

<^HAP. 11. Early in the following year, Sir Thomas Gates re- 
turned to England, leaving the government again with 
Sir Thomas Dale. This gentleman detached captain 
Argal on an enterprise of which no immediate notice 
was taken, but which was afterwards recollected with 
indignation. 

The French, who had directed their course to the 
more northern parts of the continent, had been among 
the first adventurers to North America. Their voy- 
ages of discovery are of a very early date, and their 
attempts to establish a colony were among the first 
which were made. After several abortive efforts, a 
permanent settlement was made in Canada, in the 
year 1604, and the foundation of Quebec was laid in 
the year 1608. In November 1603, Henry IV. ap- 
pointed De Mont lieutenant-general of that part of the 
territory which he claimed, lying in North America, 
between the 40th and 46th degrees of north latitude, 
then called Acadie, with power to colonise and to 
rule it ; and he soon afterwards granted to the same 
gentleman and his associates, an exclusive right to 
the commerce of peltry in Acadie and the gulph of 
St. Lawrence. In consequence of these grants, a set- 
tlement was formed in the subsequent year, on that 
coast, near the river St. Croix ; and in 1605, Port 
Ro\ al was built on a more northern part of the bay of 
Fundy. 

The colony, receiving not much support from 
France, was feeble and unprosperous, but retained 
quiet possession of the country. In a time of pro- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 51 

found peace, the expedition of Arj^al was directed ^liiLJi 
against it. He found it totally unprepared for de- 
fence. The inhabitants, w ho had assiduously and 
successfully cultivated the friendship of the Indians, 
were scattered abroad in the woods, engaged in their 
several pursuits ; and a ship and bark just arrived 
from France, laden with articles necessary for the use 
of the colony, were surprised in port, and their car- 
goes taken to Jamestown. After the departure of Ar- 
gal, the French resumed their former station. 

The pretext for this predatory expedition was, that 
the French, by setding in Acadie, had invaded the 
rights of the English, acquired by the first discovery 
of the continent. 

Argal also paid a visit to New York, then in pos- 
session of the Dutch ; which country he claimed un- 
der the pretext that captain Hudson vvas an English- 
man, and could not transfer the benefit of his discove- 
ries from his sovereign. He demanded possession 
of the place; and the Dutch governor, being unable to 
resist, " peaceably submitted both himself and his co- 
lony to the King of England, and the governor of 
Virginia under him," and consented to pay a tribute. 
Argal then continued his voyage to Jamestown. But 
another governor soon afterwards arriving from Am- 
sterdam with better means of asserting the title of his 
nation, the payment of the tribute was refused, and the 
place put in a state of defence.* 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Stilh. 



5^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. II. i^he advantages resulting to the colony from allow- 
ing each individual to labour, in part for himself, hav- 
ing soon become apparent, the system of working in 
common to fill the public stores, seems to have been 
Fifty acres totally relinquished; and, not long afterwards, fifty 
offforVa^ch ^^'"^s of land, promised by the rules of the company 
settler. to each emigrant, were surveyed and delivered to 
those having the title. 
1615. About the same time, tobacco was first cultivated 

Tobacco. . -,. . . 

m Virginia. 

This plant, although detested by the King, who 
even wrote a pamphlet against it, which he styled a 
counter blast ; although discountenanced by the lead- 
ing members of parliament, and even by the compa- 
ny, who issued edicts against its cultivation ; although 
extremely unpleasant to persons not accustomed to it, 
and disagreeable in its effects, surmounted all oppo- 
sition, and has, by an unaccountable caprice, been 
brought into general use, and become one of the 
most considerable staples of America.* 
161G. In the spring of the following year, Sir Thomas 
Dale sailed for England, leaving the government in 
Yeardiy. the hands of Mr. George Yeardly, who, after a lax 
1617. administration of one year, was succeeded by captain 
Argai. Argal. 

Argal was a man of talents and energy, but selfish, 
haughty, and tyrannical. He continued martial law 
during a season of peace ; and a Mr. Brewster, who 

* Robertson 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 53 

was tried under this arbitrary system, for contemptu- chap, it. 
ous words spoken oi the governor, was sentenced to 
suffer death. He obtained with difficulty an appeal 
to the treasurer and company in England, by whom 
the sentence was reversed.* 

While martial law was, according to Stith, the 
common law of the land, the governor seems to have 
been the sole legislator. His general edicts mark the 
severity of his rule. He ordered that merchandise 
should be sold at an advance of twenty -five j&er cen- 
tum^ and tobacco taken in payment at the rate of three 
shillings per pound, under the penalty of three years 
servitude to the company; that no person should traffic 
privately with the Indians, or teach them the use of 
fire arms, under pain of death ; that no person should 
hunt deer or hogs without the governor's permission ; 
that no man should shoot, mless in his own necessa- 
ry defence, until a new supply of ammunition should 
arrive, on pain of a ye'-.i^s personal service ; that none 
should go on board the ships at Jamestown, without 
the governor's leave ; that every person should go to 
church on Sundays and holidays, under the penalty of 
slavery during the following week for the first offence, 
during a month for the second, and during a year and 
a day for the third. The rigour of this administra- 
tion necessarily exciting much discontent, the com- 
plaints of the Virginians at length made their way to 
the company. Lord Delawar being dead, Mr, 

* Robertsou, Chalmer. Stith, 



Q^ HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. n- Yeardly was appointed captain-general, with instruc- 

Mr. Yeard- tions to examine the wrongs of the colonists, and to 

^* redress them.* 

1619. The new governor arrived in April, and soon after, 

to the inexpressible joy of the inhabitants, declared his 

determination to convoke a colonial assembly. 

This is an important era in the history of Virginia. 
Heretofore, all legislative authority had been exercis- 
ed, either by the corporation in England, or by their 
officers in the colony. The people had no voice, 
either personally, or by their representatives, in the 
government of themselves ; and their most important 
concerns were managed by persons often unacquainted 
with their situation, and always possessing interests 
different from theirs. They now felicitated them- 
selves on having really the privileges of Englishmen. 
rirstcolo- This first assembly met at Jamestown on the 19th 
ma assem- ^^ j^j^g^ 'pj^g colony being not then divided into 
counties, the members were elected by the different 
boroughs, amounting at that time to seven. From 
this circumstance the popular branch of the legisla- 
ture received the appellation of the house of bur- 
gesses, which it retained until all connexion with Eng- 
land was dissolved. 

The assembly, composed of the governor, the 
council, and burgesses, met together in one apart- 
ment, and there discussed the various matters which 
came before them. The laws then enacted, which, 

• Robertson.- Chalmer. Stith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 55 

it is believed, are no longer extant, were transmitted ^"^^- "• 
to England for the approbation of the treasurer and 
company.* 

Although the emigrations from England continued 
to be considerable, few females had crossed the At- 
lantic. Men without wives could not consider their 
residence in the country as permanent, and must in- 
tend after amassing some wealth, to return to their 
native land. To remove this impediment to the popu- 
lation of the colony, ninety girls, of humble fortune F'rst arrival 
and spotless character, were transported by the com- 1620. 
pany to Virginia ; and in the subsequent year, they 
were followed by sixty of the same description. They 
were received by the young planters as a blessing 
which substituted domestic happiness for the cheer- 
less gloom of solitude ; and the face of the country 
was essentially changed.! The prospect of becoming 
parents was accompanied with anxieties for the wel- 
fare of their children ; and the education of youth soon 
became an object of attention. The necessity of 
seminaries of learning was felt, and several steps were 
taken towards founding the college, afterwards estab- 
lished by William and Mary. 

About the same time the company received orders ^P'' 0' «f>n- 

\ / _ victs. 

fi:om the King to convey to Virginia one hundred 
idle and dissolute persons, then in custody of the 
knight marshal. These were the first convicts trans- 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. 

t Mr. Stith says the price for a wife was at first, one hundred, and afler- 
^vards, one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco ; and a debt so contracted was 
made of higher dignity than any other. 



56 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. II. ported to America. The policy which dictated this 
measure was soon perceived to be not less wise than 
it was humane. Men who, in Europe, were the pests 
of the body politic, made an acceptable addition to 
the stock of labour in the colony ; and, in a new 
world, where the temptations to crime seldom pre- 
sented themselves, many of them became useful 
members of society. 

Heretofore the commerce of Virginia had been en- 
grossed by the corporation. In the year 1620, this 
distressing and unprofitable monopoly was given up, 
and the trade was open to all. The free competition 
produced by this change of system was of essential 
advantage to the colony, but was the immediate cause 
of introducing a species of population which has had 
vast influence on the past, and may affect the future 
1021. destinies of America, to an extent which human wis- 
dom can neither foresee nor control. A Dutch ves- 

^Ivesr ^^h availing itself of this commercial liberty, brought 
into James river twenty Africans, who were immedi- 
ately purchased as slaves.* 

In July, the company passed an ordinance estab- 

Twocoun- lishing a frame of government for the colony. This 

nshed.^ ' instrument provided that there should be two supreme 
councils in Virginia, the one to be called the Council 
of State, to be appointed and displaced by the trea- 
surer and company, and to assist the governor with 
advice on executive subjects ; the other to be denomi- 
nated the General Assembly, and to consist of the 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 57 

governor, the council of state, and burgesses ; to be chap, n. 
chosen for the present, by the inhabitants of every 
town, hundred, or settlement, in the colony, two for 
each. The assembly was empowered to enact gene- 
ral laws for the government of the colony, reserving 
a negative to the governor. Its acts were not to be 
in force until confirmed by the general court in Eng- 
land, and the ratification returned under its seal. On 
the other hand, no order of the general court was to 
bind the colony until assented to by the assembly. 

A controversy concerning the importation of tobac- 1622. 
CO into the European dominions of the crown, which 
had for some time existed between the King and the 
company, was, at length, adjusted. 

The King had demanded high duties on that arti- 
cle, while he permitted its importation from the domin- 
ions of Spain, and also restrained its direct exporta- 
tion from Virginia, to the warehouses of the company 
in Holland, to which expedient his exactions had dri- 
ven them. It was at length agreed that they should 
enjoy the sole right of importing that commodity into 
the kingdom, for which they should pay a duty of 
nine pence per pound, in lieu of all charges, and that 
the whole production of the colony should be brought 
to England. 

The industry, population, and produce of the colo- 
ny, were now greatly increased. At peace with the 
Indians, they had extended their settlements to the 
Rappahannock and to the Potowmac. This change of 
circumstances having rendered it inconvenient to 
H 



58 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP, ii- hrinp; all causes to Jamestown before the 8:overnor 
and council, who had heretofore exercised all judicial 
power in the country, inferior courts were established, 
to sit in convenient places, in order to render justice 
more cheap and accessible to the people. Thus ori- 
Sirt? ginated the county courts of Virginia. 

In this year the cup of prosperity, which the colo- 
nists had begun to taste, was dashed from their lips 
by an event which sliook the colony to its foundation. 
In 1618, Powhatan died, and was succeeded, in his 
dominions and in his influence over all the neighbour- 
ing tribes, by Opechancanough, a bold and cunning 
chief, as remarkable for his jealousy and hatred of the 
new settlers, as for his qualifications to execute the 
designs suggested by his resentments. He renewed, 
however, the stipulations of Powhatan ; and, for a 
considerable time, the general peace remained undis- 
turbed. The colonists, unsuspicious of danger, ob- 
served neither the Indians nor their machinations. 
Engaged entirely in the pursuits of agriculture, they 
neglected their military exercises, and every useful 
precaution. Meanwhile, the Indians, being often em- 
ployed as hunters, were furnished with fire arms, and 
taught to use them. They were admitted, at all times, 
freely into the habitations of the English, as harmless 
visitants, were fed at their tables, and lodged in their 
Indian con- chambers. During this state of friendly intercourse, 
massacrJa u the plan of a general massacre, which should involve 
t e whites, j^^j^^ woman, and child, in indiscriminate slaughter, 
was formed with cold and unrelenting deliberation. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S» 

The tribes in the neighbourhood of the English, ex- ^"^^- U: 
cept those on the eastern shore of the Chesapeak, 
who were not trusted with the plan, were successively- 
gained over ; and, notwithstanding the perpetual in- 
tercourse between them and the white people, the 
most impenetrable secrecy was observed. So deep 
and dark was their dissimulation, that they were ac- 
customed to borrow boats from the English to cross 
the river, in order to concert and mature their execra- 
ble designs. 

The 22d of March was designated as the day on 
which all the English settlements were to be attack- 
ed. The better to disguise their intentions, and to 
ensure success, they brought, in the preceding even- 
ing, deer, turkies, and fish, as presents ; and, even on 
the morning of the massacre, came freely among the 
whites, behaving in their usual friendly manner, until 
the very instant which had been appointed for the com- 
mencement of the scene of carnage. The fatal hour 
being arrived, they fell at once on every settlement, 
and murdered without distinction of age or sex. So 
sudden was the execution of their plan, that few per- 
ceived the weapons, or the approach of the blow, 
which terminated their existence. Thus, in one hour, 
and almost in the same instant, fell three hundred and 
forty- seven men, women and children ; most of them 
by their own plantation tools. 

The massacre would have been still more complete, 
had not information been given, the preceding night, 
to a Mr. Pace, by an Indian domesticated in his 



60 HISTORY OF THE 

£I1£L-1I- house, and treated as a son, who, being pressed to 
murder his benefactor, disclosed the plot to him. He 
immediately carried the intellij^ence to Jamestown, 
and the alarm was given to some of the nearest settle- 
ments, which were thereby saved. At some other 
places, too, where the circumstarrces of the attack 
enabled the English to seize their arms, the assailants 
were repulsed. 
General This horrible massacre was succeeded by a vindic- 
tive and exterminating war, in which the wiles of the 
Indians were successfully retaliated on themselves. 
During this disastrous period, many public works 
were abandoned ; the college institution was deserted ; 
the settlements were reduced from eighty to eight; 
and famine superadded its afflicting scourge to the 
accumulated distresses of the colony,* 

As soon as intelligence of these calamitous events 
reached England, a contribution was made by the ad- 
venturers for the relief of the sufferers; arms from the 
tower were delivered to the treasurer and company; 
and several vessels were dispatched with those arti- 
cles which might best alleviate such complicated 
distress. 
Dissention But the dissolutiou of the company was rapidly ap- 
tum oSr proaching. That corporation contained many men of 
company, ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ talents in the nation, who in their 
assemblies, were in habits of discussing the measures 
of the crown with the accustomed freedom of a popu- 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 6l 

lar body. Two violent factions, which assumed the ^^y- "• 
regular appearance of court and country parties, divid- 
ed the company, and struggled for the ascendancy. 
James endeavoured to give the preponderance to the 
court party, but his endeavours were unsuccessful ; 
and his failure disposed him to listen to complaints 
against a corporation, whose deliberations he found 
himself unable to control. To their mismanagement 
he ascribed the slow progress made by the colony, 
and the heavy losses that had been sustained.* 

After hearing both the corporation and their accu- 1623. 
sers, the privy council determined to issue a commis- 
sion, appointing persons to be named by the crown, to 
inquire into the affairs of Virginia from the earliest 
settlement of the province, and to report thereon to 
the government. This commission seized the char- 
ters, books, and papers of the company ; and all let- 
ters and packets brought from the colony were order- 
ed to be laid unopened before the privy council. Their 
report attributed the misfortunes of the colony to the 
corporation in England ; and James, at no time a friend 
to popular assemblies, communicated to them his re- 
solution to revoke the old charter and grant a new 
one, which should respect private property, but place 
power in fewer hands. The requisition that they 
should assent to this proposition, and surrender their 
charter, was accompanied with the information that 
t]ie King was determined, in default of submission, to 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. * 



63 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP, n. tajjg such proceedings for recalling their letters patent 
as might be just. The company, however, resolutely 
determined to defend its rights ; whereupon a writ of 
quo warranto was instituted in the court of King's 
Bench, which was decided according to the wishes of 
1624. the monarch. The company was dissolved, and all 

kenTrftothe Its powcrs wtxt rcvcstcd in the crown. 

^andsofthe ^bove onc hundred and fifty thousand pounds 
sterling had been expended in planting the colony ; 
and more than nine thousand persons had been sent 
from England to people it. Yet, at the dissolution 
of the company, the annual imports from Virginia, did 
not exceed twenty thousand pounds in value, and the 
population of the country was reduced to about eigh- 
teen hundred persons. 

While these things were transacting in England, 
the war against the Indians was prosecuted in the co- 
lony, with vigour and success. The neighbouring 
hostile tribes were nearly exterminated, and were dri- 
ven entirely from the rivers, so that the settlements 
were extended in safety. 

In February, the general assembly was once more 
convened. The several orders which had been pre- 
viously made by the governor and council, were 
enacted into laws ; and form the oldest legislative 
rules of action now remaining on record. Among 
them are various regulations respecting the church of 
England. But the act best representing the condi- 
tion of the colonists, is a solemn declaration, " that the 
governor should not impose any taxes on the colony, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 63 

Otherwise than by the authority of the general assem- chap, it. 
biy ; and that he should not withdraw the inhabitants 
from their private labour to any service of his own." 
At this session, too, the privilege of exemption from 
arrest, while the assembly was sitting, was extended 
to the burgesses. Several other measures were adopt- 
ed for the correction of abuses ; and the laws of that 
session, generally, are marked with that good sense 
and patriotism, which are to be expected from men 
perfectly understanding their own situation, and legis- 
lating for themselves. 

From this assembly, the royal commissioners en- 
deavoured, in vain, to procure an address to the King, 
professing " their willingness to submit themselves 
to his princely pleasure, in revoking the ancient pa- 
tents ;" but a petition was agreed to and transmitted, 
acknowledging their satisfaction at his having taken 
the plantation into his more especial care, beseeching 
him to continue the then form of government, to con- 
firm to Virginia and the Somers isles, the sole impor- 
tation of tobacco, and soliciting that, if the promised 
aid of soldiers should be granted them, the governor 
and assembly might have a voice in directing their 
operations. 

Virginia having thus become a royal government, 
the King issued a special commission, appointing a 
governor and twelve councillors, to whom the entire 
direction of the aflfairs of the province was committed. 
No assembly was mentioned, nor was it intended to 
permit the continuance of that body, for, to the popu- 



6^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP, ir. iar shape of the late system, James attributed the dis- 
asters of the colony. But some attention to their in- 
terests, was mingled with this subversion of political 
liberty. Yielding to the petitions of the English par- 
liament and of the colonists, he issued a proclamation 
prohibiting the growth of tobacco in the kingdom, 
and the importation of it into England or Ireland, ex- 
cept from Virginia, or the Somers isles, and in ves- 
sels belonging to his subjects. His death prevented 
the completion of a legislative code for the colony, 
which he had commenced, and which he flattered 
himself, would remedy all the ills that had been ex- 
perienced. 
Charles I. Charles I. adopted, in its full extent, the colonial 
Arbitrary system of his father. He committed to Sir George 
tSrcrown! Yeardly, whom he appointed governor of Virginia, 
^^^^* and to his council, the whole legislative and execu- 
tive powers of the colony, with instructions to con- 
form exactly to orders which should be received 
from him. They were empowered to make laws, 
and to execute them ; to impose taxes, and to enforce 
the payment of them ; to seize the property of the late 
company, and to apply it to the public use ; and to 
transport the colonists to England, to be punished 
there for crimes committed in Virginia. To complete 
this hateful system, the crown exacted a monopoly of 
the tobacco trade, and appointed agents, to whose 
management that article was entirely committed.* 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 65 

The full pressure of these arbitrary regulations was ^"^^^ '^- 
not felt till Sir John Harvey, on the death of Sir George Sir Joiini 
Yeardly, was appointed governor of Virginia. The 
mind of this gentleman is represented by the histo- 
rians of the day, as having been of a structure to make 
even tyranny more odious. Rapacious, haughty, and 
unfeeling, he exercised his powers in the most offen- 
sive manner. Respect for his commission, suppress- 
ed opposition to his authority for several years. Rous- 
ed, at length, almost to madness by oppression, the 
Virginians, in a fit of popular rage, seized their go- 
vernor, gnd sent him a prisoner to England, accom- i636. 
panied by two deputies charged with the duty of re- 
presenting their grievances, and his misconduct. 

Charles deemed it necessary to discountenance this 
summary and violent proceeding, so entirely incom- 
patible with that implicit obedience which he had ever 
exacted from his subjects. The deputies of the colo- 
ny were sternly received ; no inquiry appears to have 
been made into the conduct of Harvey ; and, early in 
the succeeding year, he was sent back to Virginia, i637. 
invested with all his former powers.* 

The time, however, approached, when a new sys- 
tem of administration was to be adopted. The dis- 
contents of the nation, and his own wants, obliged 
Charles to determine on convening a ])ariiament. He 
was probably unwilling to increase the ill temper re- 
sulting from his mal-administration at home, by bring- 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Stith, 



66 HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP. Ti. j„g before the representatives of the people, com- 
plaints of the despotism which had been exercised in 
America. 

To this change of circumstances may be ascribed, 
the appointment of Sir William Berkeley to succeed 

Sir wii- Harvey as governor of Virginia. In almost every re- 

ley ' ^^ '^' spect, this gentleman was unlike his predecessor. 
Highly respectable for his rank and abilities, he was 
still more distinguished by his integrity, by the mild- 
ness of his temper, and by the gentleness of his man- 
ners. To complete the satisfaction of the colonists, 
he was empowered and directed to summon the bur- 
gesses of all the plantations, to meet the governor and 
council in the general assembly, and thereby to re- 

Piovinciai store to the people their share in the government. 

restored. These changcs had such an effect in Virginia that, 
when afterward informed of a petition presented in 
the name of the assembly to parliament, " praying for 
the restoration of the ancient patents, and corporation 
government," the general assembly not only trans- 
mitted an explicit disavowal of it, but sent an address 
to the King, expressing their high sense of his favour 
towards them, and earnestly desiring to continue un- 
der his immediate protection. During the civil war, 
as well as after the establishment of the common- 
wealth, they continued firm in their attachment to the 
royal family. 
1650. The House of Commons, however, having succeed- 
ed in the establishment of its power over England, 
was not disposed to permit its authority to be ques- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 67 

tioned in Virginia. An ordinance was passed, rip- chap, n. 
daring that, as the colonies were settled at the cost 
and by the people of England, " they are and ought 
to be subordinate to, and dependent on, that nation ; 
and subject to such laws and regulations as are or 
shall be made by parliament. That in Virginia and 
other places, the powers of government had been 
usurped by persons who had set themselves up in op- 
position to the commonwealth, who were therefore de- 
nounced as rebels and traitors ; and all foreign vessels 
were forbidden to enter the ports of any of the Eng- 
lish settlements in America." As the men who then 
governed were not in the habit of making empty de- 
clarations, the council of state was empowered to 
send a fleet to enforce obedience to parliament.* 

Sir George Ayscue was accordingly detached with 
a powerful squadron, and was instructed to endea- 
vour, by gentle means, to bring the colonists to obe- 
dience ; but, if these failed, to use force, and to give > 
freedom to such servants and slaves of those who 
should resist, as would serve in the troops under his 
command. After reducing Barbadoes, and the other 
islands to submission, the squadron entered the Chesa- i65i. 
peak. Berkeley, having hired a few Dutch ships 
which were then trading to Virginia, made a gallant 
resistance ; but, unable long to maintain so unequal a 
contest, he yielded to superior force, having first stipu- 
lated for a general amnesty. He then withdrew to 

* Robertson. Chaltner. 



68 HISTORY OP THE 

CH^P- "• a retired situation where, beloved and respected by 
the people, he resided as a private man, until a coun- 
ter revolution called him, once more, to preside over 
the colony.* 

After the revocation of the charter, it became more 
easy to obtain large grants of land. This circum- 
stance, notwithstanding the tyranny of the provincial 
government, promoted emigration, and considerably 
increased the population of the colony. At the com- 
mencement of the civil war, Virginia was supposed to 
contain about twenty thousand souls.f 

While the ordinance of 1650, forbidding all trade 
between the colonies and foreign nations, was dis- 
pensed with in favour of republican New England, it 
was rigorously enforced againsr the loyal colony of 
Virginia. These restrictions were the more burden- 
some, because England did not then furnish a suffi- 
cient market for all the produce, nor a supply for all 
the wants of the colonies. This severity was not cal- 
culated to detach the affections of the people from the 
royal family. Their discontents were cherished, too, 
by the great number of cavaliers who had fled to Vir- 
ginia after the total defeat of their party in England. 
Taking advantage of an interregnum occasioned by 
the sudden death of governor Matthews, the people 
resolved to throw off their forced allegiance to the 
commonwealth, and called on Sir William Berkeley 
to resume the government. He required only their 

• Robertsbn. Chahner , t I<lem. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 60 

solemn promise to venture their lives and fortunes chap, n 

rr»i • t • 1651. 

with him in support of their King. This being rea- 
dily given, Charles II. was proclaimed in Virginia, <^^'|j»jj'^^.^^Jj- 
before intelligence had been received of the death of 'q Virginia. 
Cromwell. His restoration was soon afterwards effect- 
ed in England ; and this rash measure not only es- 
caped chastisement, but became a meritorious service 
of which Virginia long boasted, and which was not 
entirely forgotten by the Prince.* 

At the restoration, the colony contained about thirty 
thousand persons. 

One of the causes which, during the government 
of Harvey, had disquieted Virginia, was the diminu- 
tion of territory occasioned by grants of great tracts of 
country lying within the limits of the colony. The 
most remarkable of these was the grant of Maryland 
to Lord Baltimore; 

In June 1632, Charles I. granted to that nobleman Maryland. 
for ever, " that region bounded by a line drawn from 
Watkin's Point on Chesapeak bay, to the ocean on 
the east ; thence, to that part of the estuary of Dela- 
ware on the north, which lieth under the 40th degree, 
where New England is terminated ; thence, in a right 
line, by the degree aforesaid, to the meridian of the 
fountain of the Potowmac ; thence, following its 
course, by the farther bank to its confluence." The 
territory described in this grant was denominated 
Maryland, and was separated entirely from Virginia. 

• Robertson. Chalmer. 



70 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP, n. Yhe proprietor was empowered, with the assent of 
the freemen, or their delegates, <vhom he was requir- 
ed to assemble for that purpose, to make all laws for 
the government of the new colony, not inconsistent 
with the laws of England. Privileges, in other re- 
spects analogous to those given to the other colonies, 
were comprised in this charter ; and it is remarkable 
that it contains no clause obliging the proprietary to 
submit the laws which might be enacted to the King, 
for his approbation or dissent ; nor any reservation of 
the right of the crown to interfere in the government 
of the province.* 

This is the first example of the dismemberment of 
a colony, and the creation of another within its ori- 
ginal limits, by the mere act of the crown. 

1632. The first migration into the new colony consisted 
colony con- of about two hundred gentlemen with their adherents, 
CaiJert/ chicfly Romau Catholics, who sailed from England 

under Calvert, the brother of the proprietor, in No- 

1633. vember, and, early in the following year, landed in 
Maryland, near the mouth of the Potowmac. Their 
first effort was to conciliate the good will of the na- 
tives, whose town they purchased, and called St. 
Mary's. This measure was as wise as it was just. 
By obtaining the peaceable possession of land already 
prepared for cultivation, the Marylanders were ena- 
bled to raise their food immediately ; and this circum- 
stance, together with their neighbourhood to Virginia, 

* Chalmer. Robertson. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^1 

where the necessaries of hfe were then raised in abun- chap, n. 
dance, secured them from famine and its concomitant 
diseases ; — afflictions which had swept away such 
numbers of the first settlers of North America. 

The inhabitants of Virginia presented a petition 
against the grant to Lord Bahimore, which was heard 
before the privy council in July, 1733. The decision 
was in favour of the continuance of the patent ; leav- 
ing to the petitioners their remedy at law. To pre- 
vent farther differences, free commerce was permitted 
between the colonies ; and they were enjoined to re- 
ceive no fugitives from each other; to do no act which 
might bring on a war with the natives ; and, on all 
occasions to assist each other as became fellow sub- 
jects of the same state. 

In February 1635, the first assembly of Maryland i63j. 
was convened. It appears to have been composed of^auThe^ 
of the whole body of the freemen. Their acts vvere,''^^'^™^"' 
most probably, not approved by the proprietor, who 
transmitted, in turn, for their consideration, a code of 
laws prepared by himself. This code was laid be- i6,38.! 
fore the assembly who rejected it without hesitation, 
and prepared a body of regulations adapted to their 
situation. Among these was an act of attainder 
against William Clayborne, who was charged withwiniam 
felony and sedition, with having exercised the powers 
of government within the province without authority, 
and with having excited the Indians to make war on 
the colony.* 

• Chalmer, 



y2 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. 11. j\g early as the year 1631, Charles had granted a 
license to William Clayborne, one of the council and 
secretary of state of Virpjinia, "to traffic in those parts 
of America for which there is already no patent grant- 
ed for sole trade." To enforce this license, Harvey, 
then governor of Virginia, had granted his commis- 
sion also, containing the same powers. Under this 
license and commission, Clayborne made a small set- 
tlement in the isle of Kent, near Annapolis, which he 
continued to claim ; and refused to submit to the ju- 
risdiction of Maryland. Not content with infusing 
his own turbulent spirit into the inhabitants of Kent 
island, he scattered jealousies among the natives, and 
persuaded them that " the new comers" were Span- 
iards, and enemies of the Virginians. Having been 
indicted, and found guilty of murder, piracy, and 
sedition, he fled from justice ; whereupon his estate 
was seized and confiscated. Clayborne loudly de- 
nounced these proceedings as oppressive, and com- 
plained of them to his sovereign. At the same time, 
he prayed for a confirmation of his former license to 
trade, and for a grant of other lands adjoining the isle 
of Kent, with power to govern them. The lords 
commissioners of the colonies, to whom this subject 
was referred, determined that the lands in question 
belonged to Lord Baltimore ; and that no plantation, 
or trade with the Indians, within the limits of his pa- 
tent, ought to be allowed, without his permission. 
The other complaints made by Clayborne were not 
deemed proper for the interference of government. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 73 

Hitherto, the legislature had been composed of the ^"'^^ " • 
whole bodv of the freemen. But the increase of popu- Composed 

* ot ivpre- 

lation, and the extension of settlements, having ren- sentatives, 
dered the exercise of the sovereign power by 
the people themselves intf lerably burdensome, an 
act was passed, in 1639, " for establishing the House 
of Assembly." This act declared that those elect- 
ed should be called burgesses, and should supply 
the place of the freemen who chose them, as do 
the representatives in the Parliament of England. 
These burgesses, with others called i)y special writ, 
together with the governor and secretary, were to con- 
stitute the General Assembly ; but the two branches 
of the legislature were to sit in the same chamber. 
In 1650, this last regulation was changed ; and an act 
was passed declaring that those called by special writ 
should form the upper house, while those chosen by 
the hundreds should compose the lower house ; and 
that bills assented to by both branches of the legisla- 
ture and by the governor, should be deemed the laws 
of the province. 

Perfect harmony prevailed between the proprietor 
and the people ; and Maryland, attentive to its own 
affairs, remained in a state of increasing prosperity un- 
til the civil war broke out in England. This govern- 
ment, like that of Virginia, was attached to the royal 
cause ; but Clayborne, who took part with the Par- 
liament, found means to intrigue among the people, i64i. 
and to raise an insurrection in the prov ince. Calvert, 
the governor, was obliged to fly to Virginia for pro- 
K 



74! HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. It. tection ; and the insurgents seized the reins of govern- 
ment. After the suppression of this revolt, and the 
restoration of tranquillity, an act of general pardon and 
oblivion was passed, from the benefits of which only 
a few leading individuals were excepted ; but this, 
like most other insurrections, produced additional 
burdens on the people which did not so soon pass 
away. A duty, for seven years, often shillings on 
every hundred weight of tobacco exported in Dutch 
bottoms, was granted to the proprietor ; the one-half 
of which was appropriated to satisfy claims produced 
by the recovery and defence of the province.* 
1651. This state of repose was disturbed by the superin- 
tending care of Parliament. In September 1651, 
commissioners were appointed " for reducing and 
governing the colonies within the bay of Chesapeak." 
Among them was Ciayborne, the evil genius of 
Maryland. As the proprietor had acknowledged and 
submitted to the authority of Parliament, he was per- 
mitted to govern the colony in the name of " the 
keepers of the liberties of England ;" but could not 
long retain the possession of actual authority. The 
distractions of England, having found their way into 
Maryland, divided the colonists ; and the commis- 
sioners supported with their countenance, the faction 
opposed to the established government. The con- 
tentions generated by this state of things, at length 
broke out in a civil war, which terminated in the de- 

* Chalmer. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 75 

feat of the srovernor and the Roman Catholics. A ^"^^ " 
new assembly was convened, which, being entirely 
under the influence of the victorious party, passed an 
act declaring that none who professed the popish reh- 
gion could be protected in the province by the laws ; 
that such as profess faith in God by Jesus Christ, al- 
though dissenting from the doctrine and discipline 
publicly held forth, should not be restrained from the 
exercise of their religion, provided such liberty was 
not extended to popery, or prelacy, or to such as, un- 
der the profession of Christ, practise licentiousness. 
Other laws in the same spirit were enacted ; and a 
persecution was commenced against the Quakers, as 
well as against those guilty of popery, and prelacy. 
A scene of revolutionary turbulence ensued, in the 
course of which a resolution was passed declaring the 
upper house to be useless, which continued in force 
until the restoration. Philip Calvert was then appoint- 
ed governor by Lord Baltimore, and the ancient order 
of things was restored. The colony, notwithstanding 
these commotions, continued to flourish ; and, at the 
restoration, its population was estimated at twelve 
thousand souls. 



76 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. III. 

CHAPTER III. 

First ineffectual attempts of the Plymouth company to 
settle the country. — Settlement at Nexv Plymouth, 
— Sir Henry Rosetvell and company. — JVew char- 
ter. — Settlements prosecuted vigorously. — Govern- 
ment transferred to the colonists. — Boston founded. 
— Religious intolerance. — General court establish- 
ed. — Royal commission for the government of the 
plantations. — Contest with the French colony of 
Acadie. — Hugh Peters, — Heiiry Vane. — Mrs. Hut- 
chison. — Alaine granted to Gorges. — Quo warran- 
to against the patent of the colony. — Religious dis- 
sentions. — Providence settled. — Rhode Island set- 
tled. — Connecticut settled. — IVar with the Pequods. 
—New Haven settled. 

1606. The steps by which the first, or southern colony, 
advanced to a firm and permanent establishment, were 
slow and painful. The company for founding the 
second, or northern colony, was composed of gentle- 
men residing in Piv mouth, and other parts of the 
west of England ; was less wealtliy, and possessed 
fewer resources than the first company, v\ hich resided 
in the capital. Their efforts were consequently more 
feeble, and less successful, than those which were 
made in the south,* 

* Robertson. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 77 

The first vessel fitted out by this company was chap, m. 
captured and confiscated by the Spaniards, who; at 
that time, asserted a right to exclude the ships of all 
other nations from navigating the American seas. 
Not discouraged by this misfortune, the company in 
the following year dispatched two other vessels, hav- leor. 
ing on board about two hundred persons designed to 
form the proposed settlement. The colonists arrived 
safely on the American coast in autumn, and took pos- j 
session of a piece of ground near the river Sagafja- -. 
((^c, where they built fort St. George. Their suffer- 
ings during the ensuing winter were extreme. Many 
of the company, among whom were Gilbert their ad- 
miral, and George Popham their president, sank un- 
der the diseases by which they were attacked ; 
and the vessels which brought them supplies in the 
following spring, brought also the information that 
their principal patron, Sir John Popham, chief justice 
of England, was dead. Discouraged by their losses 
and sufferings, and by the death of a person on whom 
they relied chiefly for assistance, the surviving colo- 
nists determined to abandon the country, and embark leos. 
on board the vessels then returning to England. The 
frightful pictures they drew of the country, and of the 
climate, deterred the company, for some time, from 
farther attempts to make a settlement, and their en- 
terprizes were limited to voyages for the" purposes of 
taking fish, and of trading with the natives for furs. 
One of these was made by captain Smith, so distin- i6i4. 
guished in the history of Virginia. Having explored, 



78 HISTORY OF THE 

£H^ZJ[H- with great accuracy, that part of the coast which 
stretches from Penobscot to Cape Cod, he dehneated 
it on a map ; which he presented to the young Prince 
of Wales, with descriptions dictated by a sanguine 
mind, in which enthusiasm was combined with ge- 
nius. The imagination of the Prince was so wrought 
upon by the glowing colours in which Smith painted 
the country, that he declared it should be called New 
England, which name it has ever since retained.* . 

The languishing company of Plymouth, however, 
could not be stimulated to engage in farther schemes 
of colonisation, the advantages of which were distant 
and uncertain, while the expense was immediate and 
inevitable. To a stronger motive than even interest, is 
New England indebted for its first settlement. 

An obscure sect, which had acquired the appella- 
tion of Brownists from the name of its founder, and 
which had rendered itself peculiarly obnoxious by the 
democracy of its tenets respecting church government, 
had been driven by persecution to take refuge at Ley- 
den in Holland, where its members formed a distinct 
society under the care of their pastor, Mr. John Ro- 
binson. There they resided several years in safe ob- 
scurity. This situation, at length, became irksome to 
them. Their families intermingled with the Dutch, 
and they saw before them, with extreme apprehen- 
sion, the danger of losing their separate identity. 
Under the influence of these and other causes, they 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 79 

came to the determination of removing in a body to^^I!ALHL 
America. 

They applied to the London company for a grant leis, 
of lands ; and, to promote the success of their appli- 
cation by the certainty of their emigrating, they said, 
*' that they were well weaned from the delicate milk 
of their mother country, and inured to the difficulties 
of a strange land. That they were knit together in a 
strict and sacred bond, by virtue of which they held 
themselves bound to take care of the good of each 
other, and of the whole. That it was not with them, 
as with other men, whom small things could discour- 
age, or small discontents cause to wish themselves at 
home again.'' The only privilege on which they in- 
sisted, was a license under the great seal, to practise 
and profess religion in that mode, which, under the 
impulse of conscience, they had adopted. This rea- 
sonable and moderate request was refused. James 
had already established the church of England in 
Virginia ; and, although he promised to connive at 
their non-conformity, and not to molest them while 
they demeaned themselves peaceably, he positively re- 
fused to give that explicit and solemn pledge of secu 
rity, which they required. This, for a short time, 
suspended their removal ; but the causes of their dis- 
content in Holland continuing, they, at length, deter- 
mined to trust to the verbal declarations of the King, 
and negotiated with the Virginia company for a tract 
of land within the limits of their patent.* 

• Koberlson. 



80 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP III, ifj September, they sailed from England, with only 
one hundred and twenty men, in a sinajle ship. Their 
destination was Hudson^s river ; but the first land they 
made was Cape Cod. They soon perceived that they 
were not only beyond their ovvn limits, but beyond 
those of the company from which they derived their 
title ; but it was now the month of November, and 
consequently too late in the season again to put to sea 
in search of a new habitation. After exploring the 
coast, they chose a position for their station, to which 

Seitiement thev gave the name of New Plymouth. On the 11th 

at New -^ -^ , -^ 

Plymouth, of November, before landing, a solemn covenant was 
signed by the heads of families, and freemen, in which, 
after reciting that they had undertaken to plant a co- 
lony for the glory of God, and for the honour of their 
King and country, and professing their loyalty to their 
sovereign Lord King James, they combined them- 
selves into a body politic, for the purpose of making 
equal laws for the general good.* 

Having thus formed a compact, the obligation of 
which all admitted, they proceeded to the choice of a 
governor for one year ; and to enable him the better 
to discharge the trust confided to him, they gave him 
one assistant. In 1624, three others were added ; and 
the number was afterwards increased to seven. The 
supreme power resided in, and, during the infancy of 
the colony, was exercised by, the whole body of the 
male inhabitants. They assembled together, occa- 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Hatchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 81 

sionally, to determine on all subjects of public con- ^^L^^ill: 
cern ; nor was a house of representatives established 
until the year 1639. They adopted the laws of Eng- 
land as a common rule of action, addinoj occasionally 
municipal regulations. Some of the changes in their 
penal code strongly mark their character and circum- 
stances. While only a moderate fine was imposed 
on forgery, fornication was punished with whipping, 
and adultery with death.* 

Misguided by their religious theories, they fell into 
the same error which had been committed in Virgi- 
nia, and, in imitation of the primitive Christians, threw 
all their property into a common stock, laboured joint- 
ly for the common benefit, and were fed from the 
common stores. This regulation produced, even in 
this small and enthusiastic society, its constant effect. 
They were often in danger of starving; and severe 
whipping, administered to promote labour, only in- 
creased discontent. 

The colonists landed at a season of the year which 
was unfavourable to ihe establishment of u new settle- 
ment. The winier, which was intensely cold, had 
already commenced ; and they were not in a condi- 
tion to soften its rigours. Before the return of spring, 
fifty of them perished with maladies increased by the 
hardships to which they were exposed, by the scarci- 
ty of food, and by the almost total privation of those 
comforts to which they had been accustomed. The 

* Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison. 



83 HISTORY OF THE 

9P4LHI: survivors, as the season moderated, encountered new 
difficulties, rheir attention to the means of provid- 
ing for their future wants was interrupted by the ne- 
cessity of taking up arms to defend themselves against 
the neighbouring savages. Fortunately for the colo- 
nists, the natives had been so wasted by pestilence, 
the preceding year, that they were easily subdued, 
and compelled to accept a peace, on equitable terms. 
The colonists were supported, under these multi- 
plied distresses, by the hope of better times, and by 
that high gratification which men exasperated by per- 
secution and oppression, derived from the enjoyment 
of the rights of conscience, and the full exercise of 
the powers of self-government. From their friends 
in England, they received occasional but scanty sup- 
plies ; and continued to struggle against surrounding 
difficulties, with patience and perseverance. They 
remained in peace, alike exempt from the notice and 
oppression of government. Yet, in consequence of 
the unproductiveness of their soil, and their adherence 
to the pernicious policy of a community of goods and 
of labour, they increased more slowly than the other 
colonies ; and, in the year 1630, amounted to only 
three hundred souls. 

Until the year 1630, they possessed no other tide 
to their lands than is derived from occupancy. In 
that year they obtained a grant from the New Ply- 
mouth company, but were never incorporated as a 
body politic by royal charter. Having received no 
powers*from the parliament or King, and being total- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 83 



]y disregarded by the Plymouth company, they re- 
mained a mere voluntary association, yielding obe- 
dience to laws, and to magistrates, formed and cho- 
sen by themselves. In this situation they continued 
undisturbed, and almost unknown, more tolerant and 
more moderate than their neighbours, until their union 
Nvith a younger, and more powerful sister, who ad- 
vanced with a growth unusually rapid to a state of 
maturity.* 

The original company of Plymouth, having done 
nothing effectual towards settling the territory which 
had been granted to them, and being unable to pre- 
serve the monopoly of their trade and fisheries, ap- 
plied to James for a new and more enlarged patent. 
On the 3d of November, he granted that territory 
which lies between the 40th and 48th degrees of 
north latitude to the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of 
Buckingham, and several others, in absolute proper- 
ty ; and incorporated them under the name of " the 
council established at Plymouth, for planting and go- 
verning that country called New England ;" with ju- 
risdiction and powers similar to those which had before 
been conferred on the companies of south and north 
Virginia, and especially that of excluding all other 
persons whatever from trading within their bounda- 
ries and fishing in the neighbouring seas. This im- 
provident grant, which excited the indignation of the 
people of England, then deeply interested in the fur 

* Robertson, Chalmer. Hutchison. 



CHAP. HI. 



1620. 



84* HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. in. trade and fisheries, soon ens:ao-ed the attention, and 
received the censure of parhament. The patentees 
were compelled to relinquish their odious monopoly : 
and, being thus deprived of the funds on which they 
had relied to furnish the expense of supporting new 
settlements, they abandoned the design of attempting 
them. New England might have remained long un-* 
occupied by Europeans, had not the same causes, 
which occasioned the emigration of the Brovvnists, 
still continued to operate. The persecution to which 
the puritans were exposed, increased their zeal and 
their numbers. In despair of obtaining at home a re- 
laxation of those rigorous penal statutes under which 
they had long smarted, they looked elsewhere for 
that toleration which was denied them in their native 
land. Understanding that their brethren in New Ply- 
mouth were permitted to worship their creator accord- 
ing to the dictates of conscience, their attention was 
directed towards the same coast ; and several small 
emigrations were made, at different times, to Massa- 
chusetts bay ; so termed from the name of the Sa- 
chem who was sovereign of the country. 

Mr. White, a non-conforming minister at Dorches- 
ter, formed an association of several gentlemen, who 
had imbibed puritanical opinions, for the purpose of 
conducting a colony to the bay of Massachusetts, 
and rendering it an asylum for the persecuted of his 
own persuasion. In prosecution of these views, a 
treaty was concluded with the council of Plymouth 
for the purchase of part of New England ; and that 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 85 

corporation, in March 1627, sold to Sir Henry Rose- chap, iir. 
well and others, all that part of New England lying sii Henry 
three miles to the south of Charles' river, and three an"d others, 
miles north of Merrimack river, and extending from 
the Atlantic to the South sea. A small number of 
planters and servants were, soon afterwards, dispatch- 
ed under Endicot, who, in September, laid the foun 
dation of Salem, the first permanent town in Massa 
chusetts.* 

The purchasers perceived their inability to accom- 
plish the settlement of the extensive regions they had 
acquired, without the aid of more opulent partners. 
These were soon found in the capital ; but they re- 
quired that a new charter should be obtained from the 
crown, comprehending their names, which should 
confirm the grant to the council of Plymouth, and 
confer on the grantees the powers of government. So 
seldom is man instructed by the experience of others, 
that, disregarding the lessons furnished by Virginia, 
they likewise required that the supreme authority 
should be vested in persons residing in London. The 
proprietors having acceded to these requisitions, ap- New char- 
plication was made to Charles for a patent conforming '^"^io^s. 
to them, which issued on the 4th day of March, 1628. 

This charter incorporated the grantees by the name 
of " The governor and company of Massachusetts 
bay in New England." 
The whole executive power was vested in a governor, 

• Robertson. Chalmer. Hutchison. 



86 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.iii. 3 (deputy governor, and eighteen assistants; to be named, 
in the first instance, by the crown, and afterwards elect- 
ed by the company. The gjovernor, and seven, or more, 
of the assistants, were authorised to meet in monthly 
courts, for the dispatch of such business as concern- 
ed the company, or settlement. The legislative power 
was vested in the body of the proprietors, who were 
to assemble four times a year in person, under the de- 
nomination of the general court ; and besides elect- 
ing freemen, and the necessary officers of the com- 
pany, were empowered to make ordinances for the 
good of the community, and the government of the 
plantation and its inhabitants ; provided they should 
not be repugnant to the laws of England. Their lands 
were to be holden in free and common soccage ; and 
the same temporary exemption from taxes, and from 
duties on exports and imports, which had been grant- 
ed to the colony of Virginia, was accorded to them. 
As in the charter of Virginia, so in this, the colonists 
and their descendants were declared to be entided to 
all the rights and privileges of natural born subjects. 

The patent being obtained, the governor and coun- 
cil engaged with ardour in the duties assigned them. 
To support the expenses of a fresh embarkation, it 
was resolved that every person subscribing fifty 
pounds, should be entitled to two hundred acres of 
land as the first dividend. Five vessels sailed in May, 
carrying about two hundred persons, who reached 
Salem in June. At that place they found Endicot, 
to whom they brought a confirmation of his commis- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 87 

sion as governor. The colony consisted of three hun- chap m . 
dred persons, one hundred of whom removed to 
Charlestown. 

Religion, which had stimulated them to remove 
from their native land, became the first object of their 
care in the country they had adopted. Being zea- 
lous puritans, they concurred in the institution of a 
church, establishing that form of policy, which has 
since been denominated independent. A confession 
of faith was drawn up to which the majority assented; 
and an association was formed in which they, cove- 
nanted with the Lord, and with each other, to walk 
together in all his ways, as he should be pleased to 
reveal himself to them. Pastors, and other ecclesias- 
tical officers, were chosen, who were installed into 
their sacred offices, by the imposition of the hands of 
the brethren.* 

A church being thus formed, several were received 
as members who gave an account of their faith and 
hope as Christians ; and those only were admitted in- 
to the communion, whose morals and religious tenets 
were approved by the elders. f. 

Pleased with the work of their hands, and believing 
it to be perfect, they could tolerate no difference of 
opinion. Just escaped from persecution, they became 
persecutors themselves. Some few of their number, 
attached to the ritual of the church of England, were 
dissatisfied with its total abolition ; and, withdrawing 

» Robertson. I Idem, 



88 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.m. fyQy,^ communion with the church, met apart, to vvor- 

1628. 

ship God in the manner they deemed most proper. 
At the head of this small number were two of the first 
patentees, who were also of the council. They were 
called before the governor, who, being of opinion that 
their non-conformity and conversation tended to sedi- 
1629. tion, sent them to England. The opposition ceased 
when deprived of its leaders.* 

The following winter brought with it the calamities 
which must be uniformly sustained by the first emi- 
grants into a wilderness, where the cold is severe, and 
the privations almost universal. In the course of it, 
nearly half their number perished, " lamenting that 
they did not live to see the rising glories of the faith- 
ful." The fortitude, however, of the survivors, was 
not shaken ; nor were their brethren in England de- 
terred from joining them. Religion supported the 
colonists under all their difficulties ; and the intolerant 
spirit of the English hierarchy diminished, in the view 
of the puritans in England, the dangers and the suf- 
ferings to be encountered in America ; and disposed 
them to forego every other human enjoyment, for the 
consoling privilege of worshipping the Supreme Being 
according to their own opinions. Many persons of 
fortune determined to seek in the new world that li- 
berty of conscience which was denied them in the 
old ; but, foreseeing the misrule inseparable from the 
residence of the legislative power in England, they 

• Robertson. Chalraer. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 89 



CHAP.ni. 



i62a. 



demanded, as preliminary to their emigration, that 
the powers of government should be transferred to 
New England, and be exercised in the colony. The 
company had already incurred expenses for which 
they saw no prospect of a speedy reimbursement ; 
and although they doubted the legality of the measure, 
were well disposed by adopting it, to obtain such im- 
portant aid. A general court was therefore convened, 
by whom it was unanimously resolved *' that the pa-Govem- 
tent should be tranferred, and the government of the fened ro 
colony removed from London to Massachusetts bay."seurbayr 
It was also agreed that the members of the corporation 
remaining in England, should retain a share in the 
trading stock and profits for the term of seven years.* 

Such was the effect of this revolution in the system i630, 
of government, that, early in the following year, fifteen 
hundred persons, among whom were several of fami- 
ly and fortune, embarked, at an expense of upwards 
of twenty thousand pounds, and arrived at Salem in 
July. Dissatisfied with this situation, they explored 
the country in quest of better stations ; and, settling 
in many places around the bay, they laid the founda- 
tion 01 several towns, and, among others, or Boston, founded. 

The difficulty of obtaining subsistence, the differ- 
ence of their food from that to which they had been 
accustomed, the intense cold of the winter, against 
which sufficient provision was not yet made, were still 
severely felt by the colonists, and still carried many 

• Robtertson, Chalmer. Hutchison. 

M 



90 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. Ill, of them to the grave ; but that enthusiasm which had 
impelled them to emigrate, preserved all its force ; 
and they met, with a firm unshaken spirit, the calami- 
ties which assailed them. Our admiration of their 
fortitude and of their principles, sustains, however, 
some diminution from observing the sternness with 
which they denied to others that civil and religious 
liberty which, through so many dangers and hard- 
iest, ships, they sought for themselves. Their general court 
decreed that none should be admitted as freemen, or 
permitted to vote at elections, or be capable of being 
chosen as magistrates, or of serving as jurymen, but 
such as had been received into the church as mem- 
bers. Thus did men who had braved every hardship 
for freedom of conscience, deny the choicest rights of 
humanity, to all those who dissented from the opin- 
ion of the majority on any article of faith, or point of 
church discipline. 

The numerous complaints of the severities exercis- 
ed by the government of Massachusetts, added to the 
immense emigration of persons noted for their enthu- 
siasm, seem, at length, to have made some impres- 
1633. sion on Charles ; and an order was made by the King 
in council, to stop the ships at that time ready to sail, 
freighted with passengers for New England. This 
order, however, seems never to have been strictly exe- 
cuted, as the emigrations continued without any sen- 
sible diminution. 

Hitherto the legislature had been composed of the 
whole body of the freemen. Under this system, so fa- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 91 

* m 

vourable to the views of the few who possess popular Sl!LlLi!I- 
influence, the real power of the state had been chiefly- 
engrossed by the governor and assistants, aided by the 
clergy. The emigration, however, having already been 
considerable, and the setdements having become ex- 
tensive, it was found inconvenient, if not impracticable, 
longer to preserve a principle which their charter en- 
joined. In the year '1634, therefore, by common con- 
sent, thft people elected delegates who met the governor 1634. 
and council, and constituted the general court. This 
important improvement in their system, rendered fami- 
liar, and probably suggested, by the practice in the 
mother country, although not authorised by the char- 
ter, remained unaltered, so long as that charter was 
permitted to exist,* 

The colony of Massachusetts having been conduct- Commis- ~ 
ed, from its commencement, very much on the plan J'ov"»-rnmenl 
of an independent society, at length attracted the par- utimsl*'^"" 
tial notice of the jealous administration in England ; 
and a commission for " the regulation and govern- 
ment of the plantations" was issued to the great offi- 1635. >» 
cers of state, and to some of the nobility, in which 
absolute power was granted to the archbishop of Can- 
terbury and to others, " to make laws and constitu- 
tions concerning either their state public, or the utility 
of individuals." The commissioners were authorised 
to support the clergy by assigning them " tithes, ob- 
lations, and other profits, according to their discretion; 

• RobertsoD. Chalmer. Hutchison. 



9S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP IH. to inflict punishment on those who should violate then 
ordinances ; to remove governors of plantations, and 
to appoint others ; and to constitute tribunals and 
courts of justice, ecclesiastical and civil, with such 
authority and form as they should think proper ;" but 
their laws were not to take effect until they had re- 
ceived the royal assent, and had been proclaimed in 
the colonies. The commissioners were also consti- 
tuted a committee to hear complaints against a^olony, 
its governor or other officers, with power to remove 
the offender to England for punishment. They were 
farther directed to cause the revocation of such let- 
ters patent, granted for the establishment of colonies, 
as should, upon inquiry, be found to have been un- 
duly obtained, or to contain a grant of liberties hurtful 
to the royal prerogative.* 

From the first settlement at Salem, the colony of 
Massachusetts had cultivated the friendship of their 
neighbours of New Plymouth. The bonds of mu- 
tual amity were now rendered more strict; not only by 
some appearances of a hostile disposition among the 
natives, but by another circumstance which excited 
alarm in both colonies. 

The voyages for discovery and settlement, made 
by the English and French, to the coast of North 
America, having been nearly cotemporaneous, their 
conflicting claims soon brought them into collision 
with each other. The same lands were granted by 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



« AMERICAN COLONIES. 93 

the sovereigns of both nations ; and, under these dif- <^hap.iii. 

t) ' ' 1055. 

ferent grants, actual settlements had been made by 
the French as far south and west as St. Croix, and, 
by the English, as far north and east as Penobscot. 
During the war with France, which broke out early in 
the reign of Charles I., that monarch granted a com- 
mission to captain Kirk for the conquest of the coun 
tries in America occupied by the French ; undev 
which, in 1629, Canada and Acadie were subdued; 
but, by the treaty of St. Germains, those places were 
restored to France without any description of their 
limits ; and Fort Royal, Quebec, and Cape Breton, 
were severally surrendered by name. In 1632, a 
party of French from Acadie committed a robbery on 
a trading house established at Penobscot by the peo- 
ple of New Plymouth. With the intelligence of this 
fact, information was also brought that cardinal Riche- 
lieu had ordered some companies to Acadie, and that 
more were expected the next year, with priests, Jesuits, 
and other formidable accompaniments, for a perma- 
nent settlement. The governor of Acadie established 
a military post at Penobscot, and, at the same time 
wrote to the governor of New Plymouth stating, that 
he had orders to displace the English as far as Pema- 
quid. Not being disposed to submit quietly to this 
invasion of territory, the government of New Ply- 
mouth undertook an expedition for the recovery of the 
fort at Penobscot, consisting of an English ship of 
war under the command of captain Girling, and a 
bark with twenty men belonging to the colony. The 



91 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. ITT , garrison received notice of this armament, and pre 
pared for its reception by fortifying and strengthening 
the fort ; in consequence of which Girhng, after ex- 
pending his ammunition and finding himself too weak 
to attempt the works by assauh, apphed to Massa- 
chusetts for aid. That colony agreed to furnish one 
hundred men, and to bear the expense of the expedi- 
tion by private subscription ; but a sufficient supply of 
provisions, even for this small corps, could not be im 
mediately obtained, and the expedition was abandon- 
ed. Girling returned, and the French retained pos- 
session of Penobscot till 1654. The apprehensions 
entertained of these formidable neighbours contribut- 
ed, in no small degree, to cement the union between 
Massachusetts and Plymouth.* 

Two persons, afterwards distinguished in English 
annals, arrived this year in Boston. One was Hugh 
Peters, the coadjutor and chaplain of Oliver Crom- 
well ; the other was Mr. Henry Vane, the son of sir 
Henry Vane, who was, at that time a privy council- 

^ 1636. lor of great credit with the King. The mind of this 
young gendeman was so deeply imbued with the po- 
litical and religious opinions of the puritans, that he 
appeared ready to sacrifice, for the enjoyment of them, 
all his bright prospects in his native land. His mor- 
tified exterior, his grave and solemn deportment, his 
reputation for piety and wisdom, his strong profes- 
sions of attachment to liberty and to the public good, 

* Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 95 

added to his attention to some of the leading mem. chap in . 
bers in the church, won rapidly the affections of the 
people, and he was chosen their governor. 

His administration commenced with more external 
pomp than had been usual, or would seem to be con- 
genial either with his own professions, or with the 
plain and simple manners of the people whom he go- 
verned. When going to court or church, he was al- 
ways preceded by two Serjeants who walked with their 
halberts. Yet his popularity sustained no diminution, 
until the part he took in the religious controversies of 
the country detached from him many of its most ju- 
dicious inhabitants.*" 

Independent of the meetings for public worship on 
every Sunday, of the stated lecture in Boston on every 
Thursday, and of occasional lectures in other towns, 
there were frequent meetings of the brethren of the 
churches, for religious exercises. Mrs. Hutchinson, 
who had been much flattered by the attentions of the 
governor, and of Mr. Cotton, one of the most popular 
of the clergy ; who added eloquence to her enthu- 
siasm, and whose husband was among the most re- 
spected men of the country ; dissatisfied with the 
exclusion of her sex from the private meetings of the 
brethren, instituted a meeting of the sisters also, in 
which she repeated the sermons of the preceding 
Sunday, accompanied with remarks and expositions. 
These meetings were attended by a large number of 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



96 HISTORY OF THE 

^"^r "^ ^^® "^°^^ respectable of her sex ; and her lectures 
were, for a time, generally approved. At length she 
drew a distinction between the ministers through the 
country. She designated a small number as being 
under a covenant of grace ; the others, as being under 
a covenant of works. Contending for the necessity 
of the former, she maintained that sanctity of life is no 
evidence of justification, or of favour with God; and 
that the Holy Ghost dwells personally in such as are 
justified. The whole colony was divided into two 
parties, equally positive, on these abstruse points, 
whose resentments against each other threatened the 
most serious calamities. Mr. Vane espoused, with 
zeal, the wildest doctrines of Mrs. Hutchinson, and 
Mr. Cotton decidedly favoured them. The lieutenant 
governor Mr. Winthrop, and the majority of the 
churches, were of the opposite party. Many confe- 
rences were held ; days of fasting and humiliation 
were appointed ; a general synod was called ; and, 
after violent dissentions, Mrs. Hutchinson's opinions 
were condemned as erroneous, and she was banished. 
Many of her disciples followed her. Vane, in dis- 
gust, quitted America ; unlamented even by those 
who had lately admired him. He was thought too 
visionary ; and is said to have been too enthusiastic 
even for the enthusiasts of Massachusetts. 

The patentees, having no common object to prose- 
cute, resolved to divide their lands ; and, in the ex- 
pectation of receiving a deed of confirmation for the 
particular portion which fortune should allot to each, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 97 



cast lots, in the presence of James, for the shares each ^" g^g "^ ' 
should hold in severalty. They continued, however, 
to act some years longer as a body politic, during 
which time, they o;ranted various portions of the 
country to different persons ; and executed under the 
seal of the corporation, deeds of feoffment for the lots 
drawn by each member of the company : patents of 
confirmation for which were solicited, but appear to 
have been granted only to Gorges, for Maine. The 
charter was surrendered by the company and accept- 
ed by the crown.* 

Charles, in pursuance of his determination to take lesr. 
the government of New England into his own hands, 
issued a proclamation directing that none should be 
transported thither who had not the special license of 
the crown, which should be granted to those only who 
had taken the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, and 
had conformed to the discipline of the church of 
England. This order, however, could not be com- 
pletely executed ; and the emigrations, which were 
entirely of non-comformists, still continued. Those 
who were disgusted with the ceremonials rigidly ex- 
acted in England, estimated so highly the simple 
frame of church policy established in Massachusetts, 
that numbers surmounted every difficulty, to seek an 
asvlum in this new Jerusalem. Among them were 
men of the first political influence and mental attain- 
ments. Pymm, Hampden, Hazlerig, and Cromwell, 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 

N 



98 HISTORY OF THE 

!9!i|^iIIL- with many others who afterwards performed a con- 
spicuous part in that revolution which brought the 
head of Charles to the block, are said to have been 
actually on board a vessel prepared to sail for New 
Enfi^land, and to have been stopped by the special or- 
ders of the privy council.* 

The commissioners for the regulation and govern- 
ment of the plantations having reported that Massa- 
chusetts had violated its charter, a writ of quo war- 
1638. rajito was issued, on which judgment was given in 
favour of the crown. The process was never served 
on any member of the corporation ; and it is therefore 
probable that the judgment was not final. The privy 
council however ordered the governor and company to 
send their patent to England to be surrendered. The 
general court answered this order by a petition to the 
commissioners in which they said, '• we dare not ques- 
tion your Lordship's proceedings in requiring our patent 
to be sent unto you ; we only desire to open our 
griefs : and if in any thing we have offended his Ma- 
jesty or your Lordships, we humbly prostrate our- 
selves at the foot stool of supreme authority ; we are 
sincerely ready to yield all due obedience to both ; 
we are not conscious that we have offended in any 
thing, as our government is according to law ; we 
pray that we may be heard before condemnation, and 
that we may be suffered to live in the wilderness.'' 
Fortunately for the colonists, Charles and his com- 

* Hume. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 99 

missioners found too much employment at home, tn chap, hi. 

, , . ^ . . ^ \ . 1638. 

nave leisure for carrying into complete execution, a 
system aimed at the subversion of what was most dear 
to the hearts of Americans. 

To the religious dissentions which distracted Mas- 
sachusetts, and to the rigour with which conformity 
was exacted, is to be attributed the first settlement of 
the other colonies of New England. As early as the 
year 1634, Roger Williams, a popular preacher at 
Salem, who had refused to hold communion with the 
church at Boston, because its members refused to 
make a public declaration of their repentance for hav- 
ing held communion with the church of England 
during their residence in that country, was charged 
with many exceptionable tenets. Among several 
which mark his wild enthusiasm, one is found in total 
opposition, to the spirit of the times and to the severi- 
ty of his other doctrines. He maintained, that to pun - 
ish a man for any matter of conscience is persecution, 
and that even papists and Armenians are entitled to 
freedom of conscience in worship, provided the peace 
of civil society be secured. The divines of Massa- 
chusetts, in opposition to this doctrine, contended 
that they did not persecute men for conscience, but 
corrected them for sinning against conscience ; and 
so they did not persecute, but punish heretics. This 
unintelligible sophism not convincing Williams, he 
was, for this, and for his other heresies, banished by 
the magistrates, as a disturber of the peace of the 
church, and of the commonwealth. 



100 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. TIL Many of his disciples followed him into exile, and« 
travelling south until they passed the line of Massa- 
chusetts, purchased a tract of land of the Narraghan- 

Providence sctts, then a powerful tribe of Indians, where, in 1635, 
they made a settlement to which they gave the name 
of Providence. After fixing the place of their future 
residence, they entered into a voluntary association, 
and framed a government composed of the whole 
body of freemen. After the manner of Massachu- 
setts, they created a church by collecting a religious 
society ; but, as one of the causes of their migration 
had been the tenet that all were entitled to freedom 
of conscience in worship, entire toleration was estab- 
lished. The new settlers cultivated with assiduity 
the good will of the natives, with whom a long peace 
was preserved.* 

The banishment of Williams was soon followed 
by that of Mrs. Hutchinson. She was accompa- 
nied by many of her disciples, who, pursuing the 
steps of Williams, and, arriving in his neighbour- 
hood, purchased a tract of land from the same tribe, 

Rhode and founded Rhode Island. Imitating the conduct 

Ued? *^ of their neighbours, they formed a similar association 
for the establishment of civil government, and adopt- 
ed the same principles of toleration. In consequence 
of this conduct the island soon became so populous 
as to furnish settlers for the adjacent shores. f 
1634. Connecticut too is a colony of Massachusetts. As 
early as the year 1634, several persons, among whom 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. | Chalmer. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 101 

was Mr. Hooker, a favourite minister of the cluirch, chap, tit . 
•applied to the general court of Massachusetts for 
permission to pursue their fortunes in some new and 
better land. This permission was not granted at that 
time ; and, it being then the received opinion that the 
oath of a freeman, as well as the original compact, 
bound every member of the society so as not to leave 
him the right to separate himself from it without the 
consent of the whole, this emigration was suspended. 
The general court, however, did not long withhold 
its assent. The country having been explored, and 
a place selected on the west side of the river Connec- Connecti- 

. ^ . . 1 ^ ^1 .•^- ^ cut settled, 

ticut, a commission was granted to the petitioners to 
remove, on the condition of their still continuing un- 
der the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, some few huts 
had been erected the preceding year in which a small 
number of emigrants had wintered ; and, the fall suc- 
ceeding, about sixty persons traversed the wilderness 
in families. In 1636, about one hundred persons, i^sg, 
led by Pynchon, Hooker, and Haynes, followed the 
first emigrants, and founded the towns of Hartford, 
Springfield, and Weathersfield. There are some pe- 
culiarities attending this commission and this settle- 
ment, which deserve to be noticed. 

The country to be settled was, confessedly, with- 
out the limits of Massachusetts ; yet Roger Ludlow , 
was authorised to promulgate the orders which might 
be necessary for the plantations ; to inflict corporal 
punishment, imprisonment, and fines ; to determine 
all differences in a judicial way ; and to convene the 



lOS HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. Ill, inhabitants in a general court, if it should be necessa- 

1636. ,^, . . , . „ 

ry. This signal exercise of authority grew out of the 
principle, solemnly asserted by the general court of 
Massachusetts, that the oath of fidelity to the com- 
monwealth was binding, although the person should 
no longer reside within its limits. 

There were other difficulties attending the tide of 
the settlers. The Dutch at Manhadoes, or New- 
York, claimed a right to the river, as its first disco- 
verers. In addition to this hostile title, Lord Say and 
Seal, and Lord Brooke, with some others, contem- 
plating a retreat in the new world from the despotism 
with which England was threatened, had made choice 
of Connecticut river for that purpose, and had built a 
fort at its mouth, called Saybrooke. The emigrants 
from Massachusetts, however, kept possession ; and 
proceeded to clear and cultivate the country. They 
purchased the rights of Lord Say and Seal, and Lord 
Brooke, and their partners ; and the Dutch, being too 
feeble to maintain their title by the sword, gradually 
receded from the river. The emigrants, disclaiming 
the authority of Massachusetts, entered into a volun- 
tary association for the establishment of a government, 
which, in its form, was like those established in the 
other colonies of New Eni^land. The principal differ- 
ence between their constitution and that of Massa- 
chusetts was, that they imparted the right of free- 
men to those who were not members of the Church.* 

• All the powers of povernnieiit for nearly (hrce years, seem to have been in 
the magistrales. Two were appointed in each town, who directed all the affairs 
of the plantation. The freemen appear to have had no voice in making the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 103 

These new establishments gave great and just 9!iiEJ[H.* 
alarm to the Piquods, a powerful tribe of Indians on 
the south of Massachusetts. They foresaw their 
own ruin in this extension of the English settlements : 
and the disposition excited by this apprehension soon 
.-displayed itself in private murders, and other acts of 
hostility. With a policy suggested by a strong sense 
of danger, they sought a reconciliation with the Nar- 
raghansetts, their ancient enemies and rivals ; and re- 
quested them to forget their long cherished animosi- 
ties, and to co-operate cordially against a common 
enemy whose continuing encroachments threatened 
to overwhelm both in one common destruction. 
Noticing the rapid progress of the English settlements, 
they urged, with reason, that, although a present 
friendship subsisted between the Narraghansetts and 
the new comers, yet all, in turn, must be dispossess- 
ed of their country, and this dangerous friendship 
could promise no other good than the wretched privi- 
lege of being last devoured. 

These representations could not efface from the 
bosoms of the Narraghansetts, that deep rooted en- 
mity which neighbours, not bound together by liga- 
ments of sufficient strength to prevent reciprocal acts 
of hostility, too often feel for each other. Dreading 
still less the power of a foreign nation, than that of 

laws, or in any part of the government except in some instances of general and 
uncommon concern. In these instances committees were sent from the seve- 
ral towns to a general meeting. During this term, juries seem not to liavp 
b^en employed in any case. 



104! HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP III, men with whom they had been in the habit of con- 
tending, they not only refused to join the Piquods, 
but communicated their proposition to the govern- 
ment of Massachusetts, with whom they formed an 
War with alHancc against that tribe. Open war being resolved 
quods. on by both parties, Captain Underbill was sent to the 
relief of fort Saybrooke v hich had been besieged by 
the Indians ; and the three colonies, Massachusetts, 
Plymouth, and Connecticut, agreed to march their 
united forces into the country of the Piquods, to effect 
their entire destruction. The troops of Connecticut 
were first in motion. Those of Massachusetts were 
detained by the controversy concerning the covenant 
of works, and of grace, which had insinuated itself 
into all the transactions of that colony. Their little 
army, when collected, found itself divided by this 
metaphysical point ; and the stronger party, believing 
that the blessing of God could not be expected to 
crovi n with success the arms of such unhallowed men 
as their opponents in faith on this question, refused to 
march until their small band was purified by expell- 
ing the unclean, and introducing others whose tenets 
were unexceptionable. 

While this operation was performing, the troops of 
Connecticut, reinforced by a body of friendly Indians 
and by a small detachment from Saybrooke, determined 
to march against the enemy. The Piquods had taken 
two positions which they had surrounded with pali- 
sadoes, and had resolved to defend. The nearest was 
on a small eminence surrounded by a swamp near the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 105 

head of Mystic river, x^srainst this fort the first attack £!lAZi!Il' 

•^ ^ , "^ 1636. 

was made. The Indians, deceived by a movement 
of the vessels from Saybrooke to Narraghansett, be- 
lieved the expedition to have been abandoned ; and 
celebrated, in perfect security, the supposed evacua- 
tion of their country. About day-break, while they 
were asleep, the English approached, and the surprise 
would have been complete, had they not been alarm- 
ed by the barking of a dog. They immediately gave 
the war whoop, and flew undismayed to arms. The 
English rushed to the attack, forced their way through 
the works, and set fire to the Indian wigwams. The 
confusion soon became general, and almost every man 
was killed or taken. 

Soon after this action, the troops of Massachusetts 
arrived, and it \vas resolved to pursue the victory. 
Several skirmishes terminated unfavourably to the 
Piquods ; and, in a short time, they received another 
total defeat, which put an end to the war. A few only 
of this once powerful nation survived, who, abandon- 
ing their country, dispersed themselves among the 
neighbouring tribes, and were incorporated with 
them.* 

This vigorous essay in arms of the New England 
colonists impressed on the Indians a high opinion of 
their courage and military superiority ; but their vic- 
tory was sullied with cruelties which cannot be recol- 
lected without mingled regret and censure. 



• Chalmer. Hutchison. Trumbull. 

o 



ven settled 



106 HISTORY OF THE 

cHAP.m. Immediately after the termination of this war New 
rlaven was settlecl. 

A small emigration from England conducted by 
Eaton and Davenport, arrived at Boston in June. 
Unwilling to remain where power and influence were 
already in the hands of others, they refused to con- 
tinue within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; and, 
disregarding the threats at Manhadoes, setded them- 

NewHa-^ selves west of Connecticut river, on a place which 
they named New Haven. Their institutions, civil 
and ecclesiastical, were in the same spirit with those 
of their elder sister, Massachusetts. 

The colony was now in a very flourishing condition. 
Twenty-one thousand two hundred emigrants had ar- 
rived from England ; and, although they devoted great 
part of their attention to the abstruse points of theology 
which employed the casuists of that day, they were 
not unmindful of those solid acquisitions which per- 
manendy improve the condition of man. Sober, in- 
dustrious, and economical, they laboured indefatiga- 
bly in opening and improving the country, and were 
unremitting in their efforts to furnish themselves with 
those supplies which are to be drawn from the bosom 
of the earth. Of these, they soon raised a surplus for 
which fresh emigrants offered a profitable market ; 
and their foreign trade in lumber, added to their fish 
and furs, furnished them with the means of making 
remittances to England for those manufactures which 
they found it advantageous to import. Their fisheries 
had become so important as to attract the attention of 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 107 

government. For their encouragement, a law was ^HAP.m. 
passed exempting property employed in catching, 
curing, or transporting fish, from all duties and taxes, 
and the fishermen, and ship builders, from militia 
duty. By the same law, all persons were restrained 
from using cod or bass fish for manure. 



108 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.IV. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Massachusetts claims New Hampshire and part of 
Maine. — Dissentions among the inhabitants. — Con- 
federation of the New England colofiies. — Rhode 
Island excluded from it. — Separate chambers pro- 
vided for the two branches of the Legislature. — New 
England takes part with Parliament. — Treaty with 
Acadik. — Petition of the non-conformists. — Disputes 
between Massachusetts and Connecticut. — War be- 
tween England and Holland. — Machinations of the 
Dutch at Manhadoes among the Indians. — Massa- 
chusetts refuses to Join the united colonies in the 
war. — Application of New Haven to Cromwell for 
assistance. — Peace with the Dutch. — Expedition of 
Sedgewic against Acadie. — Religious intolerance, 

1639. The government of Massachusetts, induced by 
the rapidity with which the colony had attained its 
present strength to form sanguine hopes of future im- 
portance, instituted an inquiry into the extent of their 
patent, with a view to the enlargement of territory. 
To facilitate this object, commissioners were appoint- 
ed to explore the Merrimack, and to ascertain its 
northernmost point. The charter conveyed to the 
arrantees all the lands within lines to be drawn three 
miles south of Charles river, and the same distance 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 109 

north of the Merrimack. The government construed ^^^^•^^"- 
this description as authorising a line to be drawn due 
east from a point three miles north of the head of Mer- 
rimack, which soon leaves that river, and includes all 
New Hampshire, and a considerable part of Maine. 
In pursuance of this exposition of the charter, the Massacim- 
general court asserted its jurisdiction over New Hamp- New 
shire, in which there were a few scattered habita- anTpm'or 
tions, and proceeded to authorise settlements in that ^^^'"'''• 
country.* 

The attempts which had been made to colonise 
the northern and eastern parts of New England had 
proved almost entirely unsuccessful. Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges and John Mason had built a small house at 
the mouth of Piscataqua, about the year 1623 ; and, 
nearly at the same time, others erected a few huts 
along the coast from Merrimack eastward to Saga- 
dahock for the purpose of fishing. In 1631, Gorges 
and Mason sent over a small party of planters and 
fishermen under the conduct of a Mr. Williams, who 
laid the foundation of Portsmouth. 

When the Plymouth company divided New Eng- 
land among its members, that territory lying along the 
coast from Merrimack ri\ er, and for sixty miles into 
the country to the river Piscataqua, was granted to 
Mason, and was called New Hampshire ; that terri- 
tory north-eastward of New Hampshire, to the river 
Kennebec, and sixty miles into the country, was 

* Chalmer. Hutchison, 



110 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IV. granted to sir Ferclinando Gora^es. In 1639, Gorsres 

1639 . 

obtained a patent for this district under the name of 
Maine, comprehending the lands for one hundred, in- 
stead of sixty miles, into the country, together with 
the powers of sovereignty. He framed a system of 
government which, being purely executive, could not 
even preserve itself. After struggling with a long 
course of confusion, and drawing out, for several 
years, a miserable political existence, Maine submit- 
ted itself to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and 
consented to become a part of that colony. In the 
course of the years 1651 and 1652, this junction was 
affected, and Maine was erected into a county, the 
towns of which sent deputies to the general court at 
Boston. To this county was conceded the peculiar 
privilege that its inhabitants, although not members 
of the church, should be entitled to the rights of free- 
men on taking the oath.* 

The settlements in New Hampshire, too, were 
maintaining only a doubtful and feeble existence, 
when thev drew a recruit of inhabitants from the same 
causes which had peopled Rhode Island and Con- 
necticut. 
1637. In 1637, when Mrs. Hutchinson and other Anti- 
nomians were exiled, Mr. Wheelright, her brother in 
law, a popular preacher, was likewise banished. He 
carried with him a considerable number of his follow- 
ers; and, just passing the north-eastera boundary of 

* Chalmer. Hutchisoo. 



1640. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. Ill 

Massachusetts, planted the town of Exeter. These chap.iv. 
emigrants immediately formed themselves, according 
to the manner of New England, into a body politic 
for their own government. 

A few persons arrived soon afterwards from Eng- 
land, and laid the foundation of the town of Dover. 
They also established a distinct government. Their 
first act proved to be the source of future discord. 
The majority chose one Underbill as governor ; but 
a respectable minority was opposed to his election. 
To this cause of discontent was added another of trre- 
sistable influence. They were divided on the sub- 
ject of the covenant of works, and of grace. These 
dissentions soon grew into a civil war, which was hap- 
pily terminated by Williams, who was, according to 
the practice of small societies torn by civil broils, in- 
vited by the weaker party to its aid. He marched 
from Portsmouth at the head of a small military force; 
and, banishing the governor, and the leaders of the 
Antinomian faction, restored peace to this distracted 
village. 

Massachusetts had asserted a right over this terri- 
tory. Her claim derived aid, not only from the fac- 
tions which agitated these feeble Fettlements, but also 
from the uncertainty of the tenure by which the in- 
habitants held their lands. Only the settlers at Ports- 
mouth had acquired a title from Mason ; and the 
others were, consequently, unfriendly to his preten- 
sions. These causes produced a voluntary offer of 
submission to the government of Massachusetts, 



lis HIStORY OF THE 



^^^J!'J^' which was accepted ; and the general court passed an 
order, declaring the inhabitants of Piscataqua to be 
within their jurisdiction, with the privileges of partici- 
pating in all their rights, and of being exempted from 
all " public charges, other than those which shall arise 
for, or among themselves, or from any action, or 
course that may be taken for their own good or bene- 
fit." Under the protecting wing of this more power- 
ful neighbour, New Hampshire attained the growth 
which afterwards enabled her to stand alone ; and 
long remembered with affection the benefits she had 
received.* 

Charles, environed with difficulties arising from his 
own misrule, was at length compelled to meet his 
Parliament ; and, in November, the great council of 
the nation was again assembled. The circumstances 
which had caused such considerable emigrations to 
New England, existed no longer. The puritans were 
not only exempt from persecution, but became the 
strongest party in the nation ; and, from this time, 
New England is supposed to have derived no increase 
of population from the parent state. f 
Confedera- About the samc period many evidences were given 
New°En|- of a general combination of the neighbouring Indians 
against the settlements of New England ; and appre- 
hensions were also entertained of hostility from the 
Dutch at Manhadoes. A sense of impending dan- 
ger suggested the policy of forming a confederacy of 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. t Hutchison. 



laud coIo- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. US 

the sister colonies for their mutual defence ; and so ^"^^•^- 

1640. 

confirmed had the habit of self-government become 
since the attention of England was absorbed in her 
domestic dissentions, that it was not thought neces- 
sary to consult the parent state on this important mea- 
sure. After mature deliberation, articles of confede- 
ration were digested ; and in May 1643, they were 1643, 
conclusively adopted.* 

By them the united colonies of New England, viz. 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New 
Haven, entered into a firm and perpetual league, 
offensive and defensive. 

Each colony retained a distinct and separate juris- 
diction ; no two colonies could join in one jurisdic- 
tion without the consent of the whole ; and no other 
colony could be received into the confederacy without 
the like consent. 

The charge of all wars was to be borne by the co- 
lonies respectively, in proportion to the male inhabi- 
tants of each, between sixteen and sixty years of age. 

On notice of an invasion given by three magistrates 
of any colony, the confederates were immediately to 
furnish their respective quotas. These were fixed at 

* This was an union, says Mr. Trumbull, of the highest consequence to the 
New England colonies. It made them formidable to the Dutch and Indians, 
and respectable among their French neighbours. It was happily adapted to 
maintain harmony among themselves, and to secure the rights and peace of 
the country. It was one of the principal means of the preservation of the 
colonies, during the civil wars, and unsettled state of affairs in England. It 
was the great source of mutual defence in Philip's war; and of the most emi- 
nent service in civilising the Indians, and propagating the Gospel among them. 
The union subsisted more than forty years, until the abrogation of the charters 
cf the New England colonies by king James II. 
P 



114 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP IV. one hundred from Massachusetts, and forty-five from 
each of the other parties to the agreement. If a larger 
armament should be found necessary, commissioners 
were to meet, and ascertain the number of men to be 
required. 

Tuo commissioners from each government, being 
church members, were to meet annually on the first 
Monday in September. Six possessed the power of 
binding the whole. Any measure approved by a 
majority of less than six was to be referred to the 
general court of each colony, and the consent of all 
was necessary to its adoption. 

They were to choose annually a president from 
their own body, and had power to frame laws or rules 
of a civil nature, and of general concern. Of this de- 
scription were rules which respected their conduct 
towards the Indians, and measures to be taken with 
fugitives from one colony to another. 

No colony was permitted, without the general con- 
sent, to engage in war, but in sudden and inevitable 
cases. 

If, on any extraordinary meeting of the commis- 
sioners, their whole number should not assemble, any 
four who should meet were empowered to determine 
on a war, and to call for the respective quotas of the 
several colonies ; but not less than six could deter- 
mine on the justice of the war, or settle the expenses, 
or levy the money for its support. 

If any colony should be charged with breaking an 
article of the agreement, or with doing an injury to 



AMERICAN COLONIES. H5 

another colony, the complaint was to be submitted tr> chap. iv. 
the consideration and determination ot the commis- 
sioners of such colonies as should be disinterested.* 

This union, the result of good sense, and of a judi- 
cious consideration of the real interests of the colonies, 
remained in force until their charters were dissolved. 
Rhode Island, at the instance of Massachusetts, was Rhode is- 
excluded ; and her commissioners were not admitted ctudedVrom 
into the congress of deputies which formed the con- '*' 
federation. 

On her petitioning at a subsequent period to be re- 
ceived as a member, her request was refused, unless 
she would consent to be incorporated with Plymouth. 
This condition being deemed inadmissible, she never 
was taken into the confederacy. From the formation 
of this league, its members were considered by their 
neighbours as one body with regard to external afflurs, , 
and such as were of general concern ; though the in- 
ternal and particular objects of each continued to be 
managed by its own magistrates and legislature. 

The vigorous and prudent measures pursued by 
the united colonies, disconcerted the plans of the In- 
dians, and preserved peace. 

Rhode Island and Providence plantations, excluded 
from the general confederacy, were under the neces- 
sity of courting the friendship of the neighbouring 
Indians. So successful were their endeavours that, 
in the year 1644, they obtained from the chiefs of the 
Narraghansetts a formal surrender of their country.! 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. Trumbull t Cbalmer, 



1644. 



116 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IV . The first general assembly, consisting of the col 
lective freemen of the plantations, was convened in 
May, 1647. In this body the supreme authority of 
the nation resided. The executive duties were per- 
formed by a governor and four assistants, chosen from 
among the freemen by their several towns ; and the 
same persons constituted also the supreme court for 
the administration of justice. Every township, form- 
ing within itself a corporation, elected a council of 
six, for the management of its peculiar affairs, and for 
the settlement of its disputes.* 

Hitherto the governor, assistants, and representa- 
tives, of Massachusetts had assembled in the same 
chamber, and deliberated together. At first their re- 
lative powers do not seem to have been accurately 
understood ; nor the mode of deciding controverted 
questions to have been well defined. The represen- 
tatives being the most numerous body, contended that 
every question should be decided by a majority of the 
whole, while the assistants asserted their right to a 
negative. More than once, this contest suspended 
the proceedings of the general court. But the assist- 
ants having, with the aid of the clergy, succeeded on 
each occasion, the representatives yielded the point, 
and moved that separate chambers should be provid- 
ed for the two branches of the legislature. This mo- 
tion being carried in the affirmative, their deliberations 
were afterwards conducted apart from each other. 
This regulation was subsequently modified with 

• Chalmer,. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 117 

respect to judicial proceedings ; for the legislature wn«;CHAP.iv. 
the court of the last resort. If, in these, the two 
houses differed, the vote was to be taken conjointly. 

In England, the contests between the King; andNewEng- 

•^ ' . ^ land takes 

Parliament, at length ripened into open war. Ihepaitwiih 
colonies of New England took an early and sincere 
part on the side of Parliament. Their interests were 
committed to such agents as might best conciliate the 
favour of the House of Commons, who, in return, 
manifested the impression received from them, and 
from the general conduct of their northern colonies, by 
passing a resolution exempting from the payment of 
" duties or other customs," until the house should 
order otherwise, all merchandises exported to or from 
New England.* And, in 1644, the general court 
passed an ordinance declaring " that what person so- 
ever shall by word, writing, or action, endeavour to 
disturb our peace directly or indirectly by drawing a 
party under pretence that he is for the King of Eng- 
land, and such as join with him aga^st the Parlia- 
ment, shall be accounted as an offender of a high na- 
ture against this commonwealth, and to be proceeded 
with either capitally or otherwise, according to the 
quality and degree of his offence ; provided always 
that this shall not be extended against any merchant, 
strangers and shipmen that come hither merely for 



" In the subsequent year ParliRment exempted New England from all 
taxes "until both houses should otherwise direct; "and, in 1G4C, ail the colo- 
nies were exempted from all talliages except the excise, " provided their pro 
duclions should be exported only in English bottoms " 



118 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP IV. trade or merchandise, albeit thev should come from 

J 644. 

any of those parts that are in the hands of the King, 
and such as adhere to him against the Parliament ; 
carrying themselves here quietly, and free from rail- 
ing, or nourishing any faction, mutiny, or sedition 
among us as aforesaid."* 

These manifestations of mutual kindness were not 
interrupted by an ordinance of Parliament, passed in 
in 1643, appointing the earl of Warwick governor in 
chief and lord high admiral of the colonies, with a 
council of five peers, and twelve commoners, to assist 
him ; and empowering him, in conjunction with his 
associates, to examine the state of their affairs ; to 
send for papers and persons ; to remove governors 
and officers, appointing others in their places ; and to 
assign over to them such part of the powers then 
granted as he should think proper. Jealous as were 
the people of New England of measures endangering 
their liberty, they do not appear to have been alarmed 
at this extraordinary exercise of power. So true is it 
that men close their eyes on encroachments commit- 
ted by that party to which they are attached, in the 
delusive hope that power, in such hands, u ill always 
be wielded against their adversaries, never against 
themselves. 

This prosperous state of things was still farther im- 
proved by a transaction which is the more worthy of 
notice as being an additional evidence of the extent 
*o which the colonies of New England then exercised 

• Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 119 

the powers of self-government. A treaty of peflre <^'"AP iv. 
and commerce was entered into between the governor 
of Massachusetts, styling himself governor of New JcS.'*'*'' 
England, and Monsieur D'Aulney, lieutenant gene- 
ral of the King of France in Acadie. This treaty was 
laid before the commissioners for the colonies and 
received their sanction. 

The rigid adherence of Massachusetts to the prin- i64f . 
ciple of withholding the privilege of a freeman from 
all who dissented from the majority in any religious 
opinion, could not fail to generate perpetual discon- 
tents. A petition was presented to the general court, ^^5^*,'^*^°^" ^ 
signed by several persons highly respectable for their coi.formistE. 
situation and character, but, not being church mem- 
bers, excluded from the common rights of society, 
complaining that the fundamental laws of England 
were not acknowledged by the colony ; and that they 
were denied those civil and religious privileges to 
which they were entitled, as freeborn Englishmen, of 
good moral conduct. Their prayer to be admitted to 
the rights, or to be relieved from the burdens, of so- 
ciety, was accompanied with observations conveying 
a very intelligible censure on the proceedings of the 
colony, and a threat of applying to Parliament, should 
the prayer of their petition be rejected. 

The most popular governments not being always 
the most inclined to tolerate opinions differing from 
those of the majority, this petition gave great offence, 
and its signers were req lired to attend the court. 
Their plea, that the right to petition government was 



1!30 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IV. sacred, was answered by saying that they were not 
accused for petitioning, but for using contemptuous 
and seditious expressions. They were required to 
find sureties for their good behaviour ; and, on refus- 
ing to acknowled;^e their offence, were fined at the 
discretion of the court. An appeal from this decision 
having been refused, they sent deputies to lay their 
case before Parliament ; but the clergy exerted them- 
selves on the occasion ; and the celebrated Cotton, in 
one of his sermons, asserted " that if any should car- 
ry writings or complaints against the people of God 
in that country to England, it would be as Jonas in 
the ship." A storm having risen during the passage, 
the mariners, impressed with the prophecy of Cotton, 
insisted that the obnoxious papers should be thrown 
overboard ; and the deputies were constrained to con- 
sign their credentials to the waves. On their arrival 
in England, they found Parliament but little disposed 
to listen to their complaints. The agents of Massa- 
' chusetts had received instructions to counteract their 
efforts ; and the governments of New England were 
too high in favour, to admit of a rigid scrutiny into 
their conduct.* 

In some of the internal dissentions which agitated 
Massachusetts, Winthrop, a man of great influence, 
always among their first magistrates, and often their 
governor, was charged while deputy governor with 
some arbitrary conduct. He defended himself at the 
bar, in the presence of a vast concourse of people ; 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ISl 

and, having been honourably acquitted, addressed !H^^J^ 
them from the bench, in a speech which was highly 
approved. 

As this speech tends to illustrate the political opi- 
nions of the day, an extract from it may not be un- 
worthy of regard. *' The questions," he said, " which 
have troubled the country of late, and from which 
these disturbances in the state have arisen, have been 
about the authority of the magistrate and the liberty 
of the people. Magistracy is certainly an appoint- 
ment from God. We take an oath to govern you 
according to God's law, and our o^vn ; and if we 
commit errors, not willingly, but for want of skill, you 
ought to bear with us, because, being chosen from 
among yourselves, we are but men, and subject to 
the like passions as yourselves. Nor would I have 
you mistake your own liberty. There is a freedom 
of doing what we list, without regard to law or jus- 
tice ; this liberty is indeed inconsistent with authori- 
ty ; but civil, moral, and federal liberty, consists in 
every man's enjoying his property, and having the 
benefit of the laws of his country ; which is very con- 
sistent with a due subjection to the civil magistrate. 
And for this you ought to contend, with the hazard 
of your lives."* 

During the remnant of his life, he was annually 
chosen governor. 

About this time, a controversy which had long 1649, 
subsisted between Massachusetts, and Connecticut, 

* Hutchison. 

Q 



122 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IV . was terminated. The latter, for the purpose of main- 
taining Saybrooke, had laid a duty on all goods ex- 
ported from Connecticut river. The inhabitants of 
Springfield, a town of Massachusetts lying on the 
river, having refused to pay this duty, the cause was 
laid before the commissioners of the united colonies ; 
and, after hearing the parties, those of Plymouth and 
New Haven adjourned the final decision of the case 
until the next meeting, in order to hear farther objec- 
tions from Massachusetts, but directed that, in the 
meantime, the duty should be paid. 

At the meeting in 1648, Massachusetts insisted 
on the production of the patent of Connecticut. It 
was perfectly well known that the original patent 
could not be procured ; and the agents for Connecti- 
cut, after stating this fact, offered an authentic copy. 
The commissioners recommended that the boundary 
line should be run, to ascertain whether Springfield 
was really in Massachusetts, but still directed that 
the duty should continue to be paid. On this order 
being made, the commissioners of Massachusetts 
produced a law of their general court, reciting the 
controversy, with the orders which had been made in 
it, and imposing a duty on all goods belonging to the 
inhabitants of Plymouth, Connecticut, or New Haven, 
which should be imported within the castle, or ex- 
ported from any part of the bay, and subjecting them 
to forfeiture for non-payment. The commissioners 
remonstrated strongly against this measure, and re- 
commended it to the general court of Massachusetts, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 123 

seriously to consider whether such proceedings were chap tv . 

itj4y 
reconcilable with " the law of love," and the tenor of 

the articles of confederation. In the mean time, they 

begged to be excused from " all farther agitations 

concerning Springfield.'^ 

In this state of the controversy fort Saybrooke was 
consumed by fire, and Connecticut forbore to re-build 
it, or to demand the duty. In the following year, 
Massachusetts repealed the ordinance which had so 
successfully decided the contest.* 

Thus does a member of a confederacy, feeling its 
own strength, and the weakness of those with whom 
it is associated, deride the legitimate decisions of the 
federal body, when opposed to its own interest or pas- 
sions, and obey the general will, only when that will 
is dictated by itself. 

Although, while civil war raged in the mother 
country. New England had been permitted to govern 
itself as an independent nation. Parliament seems to 
have entertained very decisive opinions respecting the 
subordination of the provinces, and its own control- 
ling power. The measures taken for giving effect to 
these opinions, involved all the colonies equally. The 
council of state was authorised to displace governors 
and magistrates, and to appoint others. Massachu- 
setts was required to take a new patent, and to hold 
its courts, not in the name of the colony, but in the 
name of the Parliament. The general court, unwil- 
ling to comply with these requisitions, transmitted a 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



i2^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHA P. IV. petition to Parliament, styling that body " the su- 
preme authority," and expressing for it the highest 
respect. They stated their uniform attachment to 
Parliament during the civil war, the aid they had 
given, and the losses they had sustained. After speak- 
ing of the favours they had received, they expressed 
the hope " that it will not go worse with them than it 
did under the late King ; and that the frame of this 
government will not be changed, and governors and 
magistrates imposed on them against their will." 
They declared, however, their entire submission to 
the will of Parliament ; and, avowing for that body 
the most zealous attachment, prayed a favourable an- 
swer to their humble petition. 

But the united colonies had lately given great um- 
brage by supplying Virginia, and Barbadoes, then 
enemies of the commonwealth, with warlike stores 
and other commodities. It was also matter of real 
complaint that their exemption from the payment of 
duties enabled them to enrich themselves at the ex- 
pense of others ; and a revocation of their privileges 
in this respect was seriously contemplated. Yet the 
requisitions concerning their charter were never com- 
plied with, and do not appear to have been repeated.* 
In this year, war was declared by England against 
Holland. The united colonies, accustomed to con- 
duct their affairs in their own way, did not think 
themselves involved in this contest, unless engaged 
in it by some act of their own. The Dutch at Man* 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 125 



hadoes, too weak to encounter their English npigh. CHAP.rv . 
boLirs, solicited the continuance of peace ; and, as the 
trade carried on between them was mutually advan- 
tageous, this request was readily granted. Intelli- j^j^J,^"^_ 
gence however was soon brouj^iht by the Indians, that ''0"« o*^!'^ 

^^ .... Dutch with 

the Dutch were privately inciting them to a general 'he Indians, 
confederacy for the purpose of extirpating the Eng- 
lish. This intelligence gave the more alarm, because 
the massacre at Amboyna was then fresh in the recol- 
lection of the colonists. An extraordinary meeting 
of the commissioners was called at Boston, uho were 
divided in opinion with regard to the propriety of de- 
claring war. In consequence of this division, a con- 
ference was held before the general court and several 
elders of Massachusetts. The elders, being request- 
ed to give their opinion in writing, stated " that the 
proofs and presumptions of the execrable plot, tending 
to the destruction of so many of the dear saints of 
God, imputed to the Dutch governor, and the fiscal, 
were of such weight as to induce them to believe the 
reality of it ; yet they were not so fully conclusive as 
to clear up a present proceeding to war before the 
world, and to bear up their hearts with that fullness 
of persuasion which was mete, in commending the 
case to God in prayer, and to the people in exhorta- 
tions ; and that it would be safest for the colonies to 
forbear the use of the sword ; but advised to be in a 
posture of defence until the mind of God should be 
more fully known either for a setded peace, or more 



1^6 HISTORY OF THE 

^^1653 ^^ "^^"'f^st grounds of war.'^* With this opinion of the 
elders, the vote of the general court concurred. 

The intelligence of the practices of the Dutch go- 
vernor with the Indians becoming more certain, all the 
commissioners except Mr. Bradstreet of Massachu- 
setts, declared in favour of war. Their proceedings 
were immediately interrupted by a declaration of the 
general court of M.tssachusetts, that no determination 
of the commissioners, although they should be unani- 
mous, should bind the general court to join in an offen- 
sive war which should appear to be unjust. A serious 
altercation ensued, in the course of which the other 
colonies pressed the war as a measure essential to 
their safety ; but Massachusetts adhered inflexibly to 
its first resolution. This additional evidence of the 
incompetency of their union to bind one member, 
stronger than all the rest, threatened a dissolution of 
the confederacy ; and that event seems to have been 
prevented only by the inability of the others to stand 
alone. Alarmed at their situation, and irritated by 
the conduct of their elder sister, Connecticut and New 
Haven represented to Cromwell, then lord protector 
of England, the danger to which the colonies were 
exposed from the Dutch and the Indians ; and the 
hazard the smaller provinces must continue to incur, 
unless the league between them could be maintained 
and executed according to its true intent, and the in- 
terpretation which its articles had uniformly received. 
With his usual promptness and decision, Crom- 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 1^7 

well detached a small armament for the reduction of CHVP^iv 
the Dutch colony, and recommended to Massachu- 
setts to furnish aid to the expedition. Although the 
legitimate requisitions of the government of the union 
had been ineffectual, the recommendation of the lord 
protector was not to be disregarded ; and the general 
court passed a resolution conforming to it. A treaty i65*. 
of peace, which was signed in April, saved the Dutch 
colony.* 

The progress of the French in their neighbourhood 
had been viewed with regret and apprehension by all 
New England. Sedgewic, the commander of theEvpedUion 
forces which had been destined against Manhadoes, Acadi<5. 
animated with the vigour of his master, was easily 
prevailed on to turn his arms against a people, whose 
religious tenets he detested, and whose country he 
hated. He soon dislodged the French from Penob- 
scot, and subdued all Acadie. The ministers of his 
most christian majesty, pending the negotiations for 
the treaty of Westminster, demanded restitution of i^^s. 
the forts Pentagoet, St. Johns, and Port Royal ; but, 
each nation having claims on the country, their pre- 
tensions were referred to the arbitrators appointed to 
adjust the damages committed on either side since 
the year 1640 ; and the restitution of Acadie was 
postponed for future discussion. 

Cromwell seems not to have intended to restore the icsc. 
countries he had conquered. He granted to St. 
Etienne, Crown and Temple, for ever, the territory de- 

• Cbalmer. Hutchison, 



128 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IV. nominated Acadie, and part of the country common- 
ly called Nova Scotia, extending along the coast to 
Pentagoet, and to the river St. George. 

Until the restoration, the colonies of New England 
continued in a stare of unexampled prosperity. Those 
regulations respecting navigation, vihich were rigor- 
ously enforced against others less in favour, were dis- 
pensed with for their benefit. They maintained ex- 
ternal peace hy the vigour and sagacity with which 
their government was administered ; and, improved 
the advantages which the times afforded them by in- 
dustry and attention to their interests. In this period 
of prosperity, they acquired a degree of strength and 
consistence which enabled them to struggle through 
the difficulties that afterwards assailed them. 

These sober industrious people were peculiarly at- 
tentive to the instruction of youth. Education was 
among the first objects of their care. In addition to 
private institutions, they had brought the college at 
Cambridge to a state of forwardness which reflects 
much credit on their character. As early as the year 
1636, the general court had bestowed four hundred 
pounds on a public school at Newtown, the name by 
which Cambridge was then known. Two years af- 
terwards, an additional donation was made by the re- 
verend Mr. John Harvard, in consequence of which 
the institution received the name of Harvard college. 
In 1642, this college was placed under the govern- 
ment of the governor, and deputy governor, and of 
the magistrates, and ministers of the six next adja- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 129 

cent towns, who, with the president were incorporated 2!!£!^^iX: 
for that purpose ; and, in 1650, its first charter was 
granted.* 

It is to be lamented that the same people possessed 
a degree of bigotry in religion, and a spirit of intole- 
rance, which their enlightened posterity will view 
with regret. During this period of prosperity, the 
government maintained the severity of its institutions 
against all those who dissented from the church ; and 
exerted itself assiduously in what was thought the 
holy work of punishing heretics, and introducing 
conformity in matters of faith. In this time, the sect 
denominated Quakers appeared. They were fined, 
imprisoned, whipped, and, at length put to death ; 
but could not be totally suppressed. As enthusiastic 
as their persecutors, they gloried in their sufferings, 
and deemed themselves the martyrs of truth. 

• Ghalmer. Hutchison, 



R 



130 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. V. 

CHAPTER V. 

Transactions succeeding the restoration of Charles II, 
— Contests between Connecticut and New Haven, 
— Discontents in Virginia. — Grant to the Duke of 
York. — Co7n7nissioners appointed by the crown, — 
Conquest of the Dutch settlements. — Conduct of 
Massachusetts to the royal commissio?iers. — Their 
recall. — Massachusetts evades a summons to appear 
before the King and council. — Settlement of Caroli- 
na. — Form of government. — Constitution of Mr. 
Locke. — Discontents in the county of Albemarle. — 
Invasion from Florida. — Abolition of the constitu- 
tion of Mr. Locke. — Bacon^s rebellion. — His death' 
^ — .Assembly deprived of Judicial power. — Discon- 

tents in Firginia. — Population of the colony, 

1660. The restoration of Charles II. was soon known 
in America, and excited, in the different colonies very 
different emotions. In Virginia, and in Maryland, 
the intelligence was received with transport, and the 
King was proclaimed amidst acclamations of unfeign- 
ed joy. In Massachusetts, the unwelcome informa- 
tion was heard vvith doubt, and in silence. Republi- 
cans in religion and in politics, all their affections were 
engaged in favour of the revolutionary party in Eng- 
land, and they saw, in the restoration of monarchy, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 131 

much more to fear than to hope for themselves. Nnr CH\p v. 
were they mistaken in their forebodings. 

No sooner was Charles seated on the throne, than 
Parliament voted a duty of five per centum on all mer- 
chandises exported from, or imported into, any of the 
dominions belonging to the English crown ; and, in 
the course of the same session, the celebrated navi- 
gation act was re-enacted. The difficulty of carrying 
this system into execution among a distant people, 
accustomed to the advantages of a free trade, was 
foreseen ; and the law directed that the governors of 
the several plantations should, before entering into 
office, take an oath faithfully to observe it.* 

As some compensation to the colonists for -these 
commercial restraints, it was also enacted that no to- 
bacco should be planted or made in England or Ire- 
land, Guernsey, or Jersey. These regulations con- * 
fined the trade of the colonies to England ; and con- 
ferred on them, exclusively, the production of tobacco. 

Charles, on ascending the throne, transmitted to 
Sir William Berkeley a commission as governor of 
Virginia, with instructions to summon an assembly, 
and to assure it of his intention to grant a general 
pardon to all persons, other than those who were at- 
tainted by act of Parliament ; provided all acts passed 
during the rebellion, derogating from the obedience 
due to the King and his government, should be re- 
pealed. 

The assembly, which had been summoned in 

* Chalraer. Hutchison. 



13S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP V. March 1660, in the name of the Kinsr, thoueh he wab 

1660. ' . b' ^> _ 

not then acknowledged in England, and which had 
been prorogued by the governor to the following 

1661. March, then convened, and engaged in the arduous 
task of revising the laws of the colony. One of the 
motives assigned for this revision strongly marks the 
temper of the day. It is that they may " repeal and 
expunge all unnecessary acts, and chiefly such as 
might keep in memory their forced deviation from his 
majesty's obedience."* 

This laborious work was accomplished ; and, in its 
execution, the first object of attention was religion. 
The church of England was established by law, and 
provision was made for its ministers. To preserve 
the purity and unity of its doctrines and discipline, 
those only who had been ordained by some bishop in 
England, and who should subscribe an engagement 
to conform to the constitution of the church of Eng- 
land and the laws there established, could be inducted 
by the governor : and no others were permitted to 
preach. The day of the execution of Charles I. was 
ordered to be kept as a fast ; and the anniversaries of 
the birth, and of the restoration of Charles II. to be 
celebrated as holy days. The duties on exports and 
tonnage were rendered perpetual ; the privilege of the 
burgesses from arrest was established, and their num- 
ber fixed ; the courts of justice were organised ; and 
many useful laws were passed, regulating the interior 
affairs of the colony.f 

* Virginia Laws. Chalmer, f Idem. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 133 

An effort was made to encourage manufactures, 2!L^^L_J- 
especially that of silk. For each pound of that article 
which should be raised, a premium of fifty pounds of » 
tobacco was given ; and every person was enjoined to 
plant a number of mulberry trees proportioned to his 
quantity of land, in order to furnish food for the silk 
worm. But the labour of the colony had been long 
directed to the culture of tobacco, and Indian corn ; 
and new systems of culture can seldom be introduced 
until their necessity becomes apparent. This attempt 
to multiply the objects of labour did not succeed, and 
the acts on the subject were soon repealed. 

In Maryland, the legislature was also convened, 
and, as in Virginia, their first employment was to 
manifest their satisfaction with the restoration j after 
which they entered upon subjects of general utility. 

Rhode Island, excluded from the confederacy of 
the other New England colonies, and dreading danger 
to her independence from Massachusetts, was well 
pleased at the establishment of an authority which 
could overawe the strong, and protect the weak. 
Charles II. was immediately proclaimed ; and an 1662. 
aeent was deputed to the court of that monarch, for 
the purpose of soliciting a patent, confirming the right land incor- 
of the inhabitants to the soil, and jurisdiction of the^ '^^ 
country. The object of the mission was obtained, 
and the patentees were incorporated by the name of 
" The governor and company of the English colony 
of Rhode Island and Providence." The legislative 
power was vested in an assembly to consist of the 



134) HISTORY OP THE 

£HA£_X: governor, deputy governor, the assistants, and such 
of the freemen as should be chosen by the towns* 
• The presence of the governor or his deputy, and of 
six assistants, was required to constitute an assembly. 
They were empowered to pass laws adapted to the 
situation of the colony, and not repugnant to those of 
England. " That part of the dominions of the crown 
in New England containing the islands in Narraghan- 
setts bay, and the countries and parts adjacent,^' was 
granted to the governor and company and their suc- 
cessors, with the privilege to pass through, and trade 
with, any other English colonies.* • 

In Connecticut, the intelligence of the restoration 
was not attended by any manifestation of joy or sor- 
row. Winthrop was deputed to attend to the interests 
of the colony; and, in April, 1662, he obtained a char- 

Patent to ter incorporatinaf them by the name of " The gover- 

Connecti- » '^ V- i • i i r ^ • 

cut. nor and company of the English colony of Connecti- 

cut in New England." The executive as in the other 
colonies of New England, consisted of a governor, 
deputy governor, and assistants. The legislature was 
composed of the members of the executive, and of i 
two deputies from every town. It was authorised to ' 
appoint annually the governor, assistants, and other 
officers ; to erect courts of justice, and to make such 
laws as might be necessary for the colony, with the 
usual proviso, that they should not be contrary to 
those of England. To this corporation, the King 
granted that part of his dominions in New England, 

* Chalmer. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 135 

boanded, on the east, by Narra^hansetts bay, on the chap, v. 
north, by the southern line of M^issachusetts, on the 
south, by the sea, and extendini^ in longitude from 
east to west, with the line of Massachusetts, to the 
south sea. 

By this charter. New Haven was, without being 
consulted included in Connecticut. The freemen of 
that province, dissatisfied with this measure, deter- i^^-^- 
mined in general meeting, " that it was not lawful to contest be- 
join ;" and unanimously resolved to adhere to their J^^^^j^^^^^'^j 
former association. A committee was appointed to^^^*"*" 

» 1 veil. 

address the assembly of Connecticut on this interest- 
ing subject. They insisted, not that the charter was 
void, but that it did not include them. 

A negotiation between the two provinces was com- 
menced, in which the people of New Haven maintain- 
ed their right to a separate government with inflexible 
perseverance, and with a considerable degree of exas- 
peration. They appealed to the crown from the ex- 
planation given by Connecticut to the charter ; and 
governor Winthrop, the agent who had obtained that 
instrument, and who flattered himself with being able, 
on his return, to conciliate the contending parties, 
deemed it advisable to arrest all proceeding on their 
petition, by pledging himself that no injury should be 
done to New Haven by Connecticut ; and that the in- 
corporation of the two colonies should be effected 
only by the voluntary consent of both. 

The government of Connecticut, however, still per- 
sisting to assert its jurisdiction, attempted to exercise 



136 HISTORY OP THE 

^"1^6 ^ ^^ ^y claiming obedience from the people, appointing 
constables in their towns, disavowing the authority of 
the general court of New Haven, and protecting those 
who denied it. Complaints of these proceedings were 
laid before the commissioners of the united colonies, 
who declared that New Haven was still an integral 
member of the union, and that its jurisdiction could 
not be infringed without a breach of the articles of 
confederation. 

Disregarding this decision, Connecticut pursued 
unremittingly, the object of incorporation. The in- 
habitants of New Haven were encouraged to refuse 
the payment of taxes imposed by their legislature ; 
and, when distress was made on the disobedient, as- 
sistance was obtained from Hartford. These pro- 
ceedings seemed only to increase the irritation on the 
part of New Haven, where a deep sense of injury was 
entertained, and a solemn resolution taken to break off 
all farther treaty on the subject. 

This state of things was entirely changed by a 
piece of intelligence which gave the most serious 
alarm to all New England. Information was receiv- 
ed that the King had granted to his brother, the duke 
of York, all the lands claimed by the Dutch, to which 
he had annexed a considerable part of the territory 
over which the northern colonies had exercised juris- 
diction ; and that an armament for the purpose of tak- 
ing possession of the grant might soon be expected. 
To this it was added, that commissioners were to 
come at the same time^ empowered to settle the dis~ 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 137 

putes, and to new model the governments, of the ^A^jiJl: 
colonies. 

The commissioners of the united colonies, perceiv- 
ing the necessity of accommodating internal differ- 
ences, now took a decided part in favour of the pro- 
posed incorporation. The most intelligent inhabitants 
of New Haven became converts to the same opinion; 
but the prejudices imbibed by the mass of the peo- 
ple being still insurmountable, a vote in favour of the 
union could not be obtained. 

At length, after the arrival of the commissioners 
appointed by the crown, and a manifestation of their 
opinion in favour of the incorporation ; after a long 
course of negotiation which terminated in a compact 
establishing certain principles of equality required by 
the jealousy of New Haven ; the union was complet- 
ed, and the representatives of the two colonies met in 
the same assembly. 

During the frequent changes which took place in 
England after the death of Cromwell, Massachusetts 
preserved a cautious neutrality ; and seemed disposed 
to avail herself of any favourable occurrences, without 
exposing herself to the resentments of that party 
which might ultimately obtain the ascendancy. Al- 
though expressly ordered, she did not proclaim 
Richard as lord -protector; nor did she take any step 
to recognise the authority of Parliament. The first in- 
telligence of the restoration of Charles was received 
with the hesitation of men who are unwilling to be- 
lieve a fact too well supported by evidence to be dis- 

s M 



138 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP y- crptMteri ; and when they were informed of it in a 
manner not to be questioned, they neither proclaimed 
the King, nor manifested, by any pubHc act, their ad- 
mission of his authority. This was not the only tes- 
timony of their dissatisfaction. Whaley and GofF, 
two of the judg^es of Charles I. came passengers in 
the vessel which brought this intelligence, and were 
received with distinction by the government, and with 
affection by the people.* 

In a session of the general court, held in October, 
1660, an address to the King was moved; but reports 
of the yet unsettled state of the kingdom being re- 
ceived, the motion did not prevail. They had seen 
so many changes in the course of a few months, as to 
think it not improbable tliat an address to the King 
might find the executive power in the hands of a 
committee of safety, or council of state. This uncer- 
tain state of things was not of long continuance. In 
November, a ship arrived from Bristol, bringing posi- 
tive advices of the joyful and universal submission of 
the nation to the King, with letters from their agent, 
and from others, informing them that petitions had 
been presented against the colony, by those who 
thought themselves aggrieved by its proceedings. 
The time for deliberation was passed. A general 
court was convened, and a loyal address to the King 
was voted, in which, with considerable ability, though 
in the peculiar lanii;uage of the day, they justified 
their whole conduct ; and, without abandoning any 

• Chalmer. TrumbuU. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 139 

opinion concerning their own rights, professed unli- ch\p. v. 
mited attachment to their sovereign. A sinnilar ad- 
. dress was made to Parliament ; and letters were writ- 
ten to those noblemen who were the known friends of 
the colony, soliciting their interposition in its behalf. 
A gracious answer being returned by the King, a day 
of thanksgiving was appointed to acknowledge their 
gratitude to Heaven for inclining the heart of his 
majesty favourably to receive and answer their ad- 
dress. 

Their apprehensions however of danger from the 
revolution in England still continued. Reports pre- 
vailed that their commercial intercourse with Virginia 
and the islands was to be interdicted ; and that a go- 
vernor-general might be expected whose authority 
should extend over all the colonies. On this occa- 
sion, the general court came to several resolutions, 
respecting the rights of the people, and the obedience 
due from them, which are strongly expressive of their 
deliberate opinions on these interesting subjects. 
It was resolved, 

That the patent (under God) is the first and main 
foundation of the civil polity of the colony. 

That the governor and company are, by the patent, 
a body politic, invested with the power to make free- 
men. 

That the freemen have authority to choose annu- 
ally a governor, deputy governor, assistants, represen- 
tatives, and all other officers. 

That the government thus constituted hath full 



140 HISTORY OF THE 

SilTiJ^- power, both legislative and executive, for the govern 
ment of all the people, whether inhabitants or stran- 
gers, without appeals ; save only in the case of laws 
repugnant to those of England. 

That the government is privileged by all means, 
even by force of arms, to defend itself both by land 
and sea, against all who should attempt injury to the 
plantation or its inhabitants, and that in their opinion, 
any imposition prejudicial to the country, contrary to 
any just law of theirs, (not repugnant to the laws of 
England) would be an infringement of their rights.* 

These strong and characteristic resolutions were 
accompanied by a recognition of the duties to which 
they were bound by their allegiance. These were 
declared to consist, in upholding that colony as be- 
longing of right to his majesty, and not to subject it 
to any foreign prince; in preserving his person and 
dominions ; and in settling the peace and prosperity of 
the King and nation, by punishing crimes, and by 
propagating the Gospel. f 

It was, at the same time, determined that the royal 
warrant, which had been received sometime before, 
for apprehending Whaley and GofF, ought to be faith- 
fully executed. These persons however were per- 
mitted to escape to Connecticut, where they were 
received with every demonstration of regard, and to 
remain during life in New England, only taking care 
not to appear in public. 

At length, in August 1661, it was determined to 

• Hutchison. Chalmer. f Idem, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 141 

proclaim the King; but, as if unable to conceal the^2AL_I 
reluctance with which this step was taken, an order 
was made, on the same day, prohibiting all disorderly 
behaviour on the occasion, and, in particular, direct- 
ing that no man should presume to drink his majes- 
ty's health, " which," adds the order, " he hath in a 
special manner forbid." 

Farther intelligence being received from England 
of the increasing complaints against the government 
of Massachusetts, agents were deputed with instruc- 
tions to represent the colonists as loyal and obedient 
subjects, to remove any ill impressions that had been 
made against them, and to learn the disposition of his 
majesty toward them ; but to do nothing which might 
prejudice their charter. 

The agents, who engaged reluctantly in a service 
from which they rightly augured to themselves cen- 
sure rather than approbation, were received more 
favourably than had been expected. They soon re- 
turned with a letter from the King, confirming their 
charter, and containing a pardon for all treasons com- 
mitted during the late troubles, with the exception of 
those only who were attainted by act of Parliament. 
But the royal missive also required that the general 
court should review its ordinances, and repeal such of 
them as were repugnant to the authority of the crown; 
that the oath of allegiance should be taken by every 
person ; that justice should be administered in the 
King's name ; that all who desired it, should be per- 
mitted to use the book of common prayer, and to 



14^ HISTORY OF THE 

^".tF; ^': perform their devotions according: to the ceremonials 

1063. * '^ 

of the church of England ; and that freeholders of 
competent estates, not vicious, should be allowed to 
vote in the election of officers, though they were of 
different persuasions in church government.* 

These requisitions gave much disquiet ; and that 
alone seems ever to have been complied with which 
directed judicial proceedings to be carried on in the 
name of the King. The agents, on their return were 
ill received by the people ; and were considered as 
having sacrificed the interests of their country, be- 
cause, with the agreeable, were mingled some bitter 
though unavoidable ingredients. 

During these transactions, the Parliament of Eng- 
land proceeded to complete its system of confining 
the trade of the colonies to the mother country. It 
was enacted that no commodity of the growth or 
manufacture of Europe, shall be imported into the 
settlements of England, in Asia, Africa, or America, 
but such as shall be shipped in England, and proceed 
directly in English bottoms, navigated by English- 
men. Salt for the fisheries, wine from Madeira and 
the Azores ; and servants, horses, and victuals, from 
Scotland and Ireland, were excepted from this gene- 
ral rule. 

To counterbalance these restrictions, duties were 
imposed on salted and dried fish caught or imported 
by other vessels than those belonging to subjects of 
the crown; and additional regulations were made for 

• Hutchison. Chalmer. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 14)3 

enforcing the prohibition of the culture of tobacco in^[]^L_I: 
Enp^Iand. 

These commercial restrictions were the never fail- 
ing source of discontent and controversy between the 
mother country and her colonies. Even in those of 
the south, where similar restraints had been enforced 
by Cromwell, they were executed imperfectly ; but, 
in New England, where the governors were elected 
by the people, they appear to have been, for some 
time, entirely disregarded.* 

The 2:ood humour which prevailed in Virginia on Discontents 

•^ •^ " in Virginia. 

the restoration of Charles to the throne, was not ot 
long duration. The restraints on commerce, and the 
continually decreasing price of tobacco, soon excited 
considerable discontents. The legislature endeavour- 
ed, by prohibiting its culture for a limited time, to 
raise its value ; but, Maryland refusing to concur in 
the measure, the attempt was unsuccessful. Other 
legislative remedies were applied with as little advan- 
tage. Acts were passed suspending all proceedings 
in the courts of law, except for goods imported ; giv- 
ing to country creditors priority in payment of debts; 
and to contracts made within the colony, precedence 
in all courts of justice. Such expedients as these 
have never removed the discontents which produced 
them. 

The English government seems, at all times, to 
have questioned the right of the Dutch to their settle- 
ments in America ; and never to have formally relin- 

• Hutchison. Chalmer. 



144 HISTORY OP THE 

^"i664 "' ^"^^^^^ its claim to that territory. Charles now de- 
Gram tothetermined to assert it ; and granted to his brother the 

dake of *^ 

York. duke of York " all that part of the main land of New 
England, beginning at a certain place called and 
known by the name of St. Croix, next adjoining to 
New England in America, and from thence extend- 
ing along the sea coast unto a certain place called 
Pemaquie, or Pemaquid, and so up the river thereof 
to the farthest head of the same, as it tendeth north- 
ward ; and extending from thence to the river Kern- 
bequin, and so upwards by the shortest course to the 
river Canada northward ; and also all that island or 
islands commonly called by the general name or 
names of Meitowax, or Long Island, situate and be- 
ing towards the west of Cape Cod, and the narrow 
Highgansetts, abutting upon the main land between 
the two rivers there called and known by the several 
names of Connecticut and Hudson's river, and all the 
land from the west side of Connecticut river to the 
east side of Delaware bay, and also all those several 
islands called or known by the names of Martha's 
Vineyard or Nantucks, otherwise Nantucket." 

To reduce this country, part of which was then in 

the peaceable possession of the Dutch, colonel Nichols 

was dispatched with four frigates, carrying three hun- 

Comission- drcd soldjers. In the same ships, came four commis- 

e^by^Srsioners, of whom colonel Nichols was one, " empow- 

crown. gj.g J ^Q i^g^jj. ^^^ determine complaints and appeals in 

causes, as well military as civil and criminal, within 
New England ; and to proceed in all things for settling 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 14j5 

the peace and security of the country." Intelligence chap, v. 
of this deputation preceded its arrival, and the prepa- 
ration made for its reception, evidences the disposi- 
tion then prevailing in Massachusetts. A committee 
was appointed to repair on board the ships as soon as 
they should appear, and to communicate to their 
commanders the desire of the local government that 
the inferior officers and soldiers should be ordered, 
when they came on shore to refresh themselves, " at 
no time to exceed a convenient number, to come un- 
armed, to observe an orderly conduct, and to give no 
offence to the people and laws of the country." As if 
to manifest in a still more solemn manner their hos- 
tility, to the objects of the commissioners, a day of 
fasting and prayer was appointed to implore the mer- 
cy of God under their many distractions and troubles.* 

The commissioners arrived in July, and their com- 
mission was immediately laid before the council, with 
a letter from the King requiring prompt assistance for 
the expedition against New Netherlands. 

The general court, which was immediately convened, 
after having first resolved " that they w ould bear faith 
and true allegiance to his majesty, and adhere to their 
patent, so dearly obtained, and so long enjoyed, by 
undoubted right in the sight of God and man," de- 
termined to raise two hundred men for the expedi- 
tion. In the mean time colonel Nichols proceeded to conquest 
Manhadoes. The auxiliary force raised by Massa- Dutch coio- 
chusetts was rendered unnecessary by the capitula- "^' 

• Chalmer. Hutchison. 



146 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. V . tJQr, of New Amsterdam, which was soon followed by 
the surrender of the whole province. 

The year after captain Argal had subdued Manba- 
does, the garrison, having obtained a reinforcement 
from Holland, returned to their ancient allegiance. In 
1621, the states general made a grant of the country 
to the West India company, who erected a fort called 
Good Hope on Connecticut (which they denominat- 
ed Fresh) river, and another called Nassau on the 
east side of Delaware bay. The fort on Connecticut 
river, however, did not protect that frontier against 
the people of New England, who continued to ex- 
tend their settlements towards the south. The 
Dutch remonstrated in vain against these encroach- 
ments, and were under the necessity of receding as 
their more powerful neighbours advance^, until the 
eastern part of Long Island, and the country within a 
few miles of the Hudson were relinquished. Farther 
south, the Dutch had built fort Casimir (now New 
Castle) on the Dela^vare. This fort was taken from 
them by the Swedes, who claimed the western shore 
of that river, but was retaken by the Dutch, who, at 
the same time, conquered Christina, and received the 
submission of the few Swedes who were scattered on 
the margin of the river. They also made a settle- 
ment at cape Henlopen, which attracted the attention 
of lord Baltimore, who sent a commission to New 
Castle ordering the Dutch governor to remove be- 
yond the 40th degree of north latitude, to which his 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 1*7 

Iordship''s claim extended. This mandate however ^"'^^ ^- 
was not obeyed. 

On the appearance of colonel Nichols before New 
Amsterdam, Stuyvesant, the governor, was disposed 
to defend the place ; but the inhabitants, feeling no 
inclination for the contest, took part with their inva- 
ders ; and Stuyvesant was compelled to sign a capi- 
tulation, by which he surrendered the town to the 
English, stipulating for the inhabitants their property, 
and the rights of free denizens. New Amsterdam 
took the name of New York, and the island of Man- 
hattans that of York Island.* 

Hudson's, and the south, or Delaware river, were 
still to be reduced. Carteret commanded the expe- 
dition against fort Orange, up Hudson's river, which 
surrendered on the twenty-fourth of September, and 
received the name of Albany. While at that place, 
he formed a league with the five nations, which 
proved eminently useful to the views of the English 
jn America. 

The command of the expedition against the settle- 
ment on the Delaware was given to sir Robert Carr, 
who completed the conquest of that country. 

Thus did England acquire all that fine country 
lying between her southern and northern colonies ; 
an acquisition deriving not less importance from its 
situation, than from its extent and fertility. 

Nichols took possession of the conquered territo- 

' Clialmer„ Smith. 



148 HISTof Y OF THE 

^^^li ^ ^^' ^^^ ^^^ compelled to surrender a part of it to 
Carteret. 

Soon after the patent to the duke of York, and be- 
fore the conquest of New Netherlands, that prince 
had granted to lord Berkeley, and sir Genrsje Carte- 
ret, all that tract of land adjacent to New Ena^land, to 
the westward of Lont^ Island, bounded on the east, 
south, and west, by the river Hudson, the sea, and the 
Delaware; and, on the north, by forty one degrees 
and forty minutes north latitude. This country was 
denominated New Jersey.* 

The conquest of New Netherlands being achiev- 
ed, the commissioners entered on the other duties 
assigned them. A great part of Connecticut had 
been included in the patent to the duke of York ; and 
a controversy concerning limits arose between that 
colony and New York. In December, their boun- 
daries were adjusted by the commissioners in a man- 
ner which appears to have been satisfactory to all 
parties. 

In Plymouth, and in Rhode Island, the commis- 
sioners found no difficulty in the full exercise of the 
powers committed to them. In Massachusetts, they 
were considered as men clothed with an authority 
subversive of the liberties of the colony, which the 
sovereign could not rightfully confer. The people 
of that province had been long in habits of self-go- 
vernment, and seem to have entertained opinions 
which justified their practice. They did not acknow- 

• Chalmer. Smith. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 14l9 

ledsfe that allep-iance to the crown which is due from 2IL^:Z_Z. 

•^ *=> . 10tJ4. 

English subjects residing within the realm; but con- 
sidered themselves as purchasers from independent 
sovereigns of the territory which they occupied, and 
as owing to England, only that voluntary subjection 
which was created and defined by their charter. They 
considered this instrument as a compact between the 
mother country and themselves, and as enumerating 
all the cases in which obedience was due from them. 
In this spirit, they agreed, soon after the arrival of the 
commissioners, on an address to the crown. This 
address, in which they express great apprehension of 
danger to their rights from the extraordinary powers 
granted to men not appointed in conformity with their 
charter, is drawn up in a style of much earnestness 
and sincerity, and conch^des with these remarkable 
words, " let our government live, our patent live, 
our magistrates live, our religious enjoyments live ; 
so shall we all yet have farther cause to say from our 
hearts, let the King live for ever." This address 
was accompanied with letters to many of the nobility 
supposed to possess influence at court, praying their 
intercession in behalf of the colony ; but neither the 
address, nor the letters were favourably received.* 

In April the commissioners arrived at Boston, and^ i''*^^. 

'^ , . . Conduct of 

their communications with the Q;eneral court com- Massachu- 

„, • • I'll IT ^^^^ ^° '*^° 

menced. The suspicions which these two bodies rojai com- 
entertained of each other, opposed great obstacles to 
any cordial co-operation between them. The papers, 

• Hutchison. 



150 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. V. on the part of the commissioners, display h\sh ideas 

1665. r 1 • 1 • , 

of their own authority, as the representatives of the 
crown, and a pre conceived opinion that there was a 
disposition in the government to resist that authority. 
Those on the part of the general court manifest a wish 
to avoid a contest with the crown, and a desire to 
gratify his majesty, so far as professions of loyalty and 
submission could gratify him ; but they manifest also 
a conviction of having done nothing improper, and a 
stedfast determination to make no concession incom- 
patible with their rights. With these impressions, 
the correspondence soon became an altercation. The 
commissioners, finding their object was to be obtain- 
ed neither by reasoning, nor by threats, attempted a 
practical assertion of their powers by summoning the 
parties before them, in order to hear and decide a 
complaint against the governor and company. The 
general court, with a decision which marked alike 
their vigour, and the high value they placed on their 
privileges, announced by sound of trumpet, their dis- 
approbation of this proceeding, which they termed 
inconsistent with the laws and established authority ; 
and declared that, in observance of their duty to God 
and to his majesty, and of the trust reposed in them 
by his majesty's good subjects in the colony, they 
could not consent to such proceedings, nor counte- 
nance those who would so act, or such as would abet 
them. 

As a ground of compromise, the court stated their 
willingness to hear the case themselves in the presence 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 151 

of the commissioners, who would thereby be enabled chap, v . 

- , . . , , . . . 1665. 

to understand its merits ; but this proposition was at 
once rejected, and every effort towards reconciliation 
proved unavailing.* 

From Massachusetts, the commissioners proceed- leec. 
ed to New Hampshire and Maine. They decided in 
favour of the claims of Mason and Gorsjes, and erected 
a royal government in each province, appointed jus- 
tices of the peace, and exercised other acts of sove- 
reignty ; after which they returned to Boston. The 
general court, declaring that their proceedings to the 
eastward tended to the disturbance of the public pefice, 
asked a conference on the subject, which was refused 
with a bitterness of expression that put an end to all 
farther communication between the parties. Massa- 
chusetts, soon afterwards, re-established her authority 
both in New Hampshire and Maine. 

Charles, on being informed of these transactions, They are 
recalled his commissioners, and ordered the generar^*"^ 
court to send agents to England, to answer the com- 
plaints made against its proceedings. The court, hav- 
ing more than once experienced the benefits of pro- 
crastination, affected at first to disbelieve the authen- 
ticity of the letter; and afterwards excused themselves 
from sending agents by saying that the ablest among 
them could not support their cause better than had 
already been done. 

During these transactions in the north, new colo- 
nies were forming in the south. 

* Chaimer. Hutchison 



153 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. V. In the year 1663, that tract of country extending 
from the 36th degree of north latitude to the river St. 
Matheo, was made a province by the name of Caro- 
lina, and granted to lord Clarendon, the duke of 
Albemarle, lord Craven, lord Berkeley, lord Ashley, 
sir George Carteret, sir John Colleton, and sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley, in absolute property for ever. This 
charter bears a strong resemblance to that of Mary- 
land, and was probably copied from it. 

Seuiement The proprietors took immediate measures for the 

of Carolina. ' ' . . 

settlement of their colony. Its constitution consisted 
of a governor, to be chosen by themselves from thir- 
teen persons nominated by the colonists ; and an as- 
sembly to be composed of the governor, council, 
and representatives of the people, who should have 
power to make laws not contrary to those of England, 
which were to remain in force until the dissent of the 
proprietors should be published. Perfect freedom in 
religion was promised ; and, as an inducement to 
emigration, one hundred acres of land, at the price of 
a half penny for each acre, were allowed for every 
freeman, and fifty for every servant, who should, 
within the space of five years, be settled in the pro 
vince. 

A small settlement had been made on Albemarle 
sound by some emigrants from Virginia, the super- 
intendance of which had been conferred, by the pro- 
prietors, on sir William Berkeley, then governor of 
that colony ; with instructions to visit it, to appoint 
a governor and council of six persons for the manage- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 153 

inent of its affairs, and to erant lands to the inh?^- chap, v. 

,. , , , • ,r A666. 

Ditants on the same terms that those in Virginia 
might be obtained. 

The attention of the proprietors was next turned to 
the country south of cape Fear, which, as far as the 
river St. Matheo, was erected into a county by the 
name of Clarendon. Considerable numbers from 
Barbadoes emigrated into it, one of whom, Mr. J(;hn 
Yeamans, was appointed commander in chief; and, in 
1665, a separate government was erected in it, similar 
to that in Albemarle. 

The proprietors having discovered some valuable 
lands not comprehended in their original patent, ob- 
tained a new charter which bestowed on them a more 
extensive territory. This charter grants that province 
within the King's dominions in America, extending 
north eastward to Carahtuke inlet, thence in a straight 
line to VVyonok, which lies under 36 degrees 50 mi- 
nutes north latitude ; south westward to the 29th de- 
gree of north latitude ; and from the Atlantic ocean to 
the South sea. Powers of government and privileges 
analogous to those comprised in other colonial char- 
ters, were also contained in this. 

The people of Albemarle, employed like those of 
Virginia, in the cultivation of corn and tobacco, re- 
ceived their scanty supplies principally from New 
England ; and carried on their small commerce in the 
vessels of those colonies. Their progress was slow, i667. 
but they were contented, A new constitution was 
given them, by which the executive power was placed 
U 



154 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. V. ;,-, a p-overnor, to act bv the advice of a council of 

1667. . ' • 

twelve, six of whom were to be chosen by himself, 
and the others by the assemblv, which was composed 
of the governor, the council, and twelve delesjates, to 
be elected annually by the freeholders. Perfect free- 
dom in religion was established, and all were entitled 
to equal privileges, on taking the oaths of allegiance 
to the King, and of fidelity to the proprietors. 

The first acts of this legislature indicate the condi- 
tion and opinions of the people. It was declared that 
none should be sued, during five years, for any cause 
of action arising out of the country ; and that no per- 
son should accept a power of attorney to receive debts 
contracted abroad. 

The proprietf)rs, dissatisfied with their own sys- 
tems, applied to Mr. Locke for the plan of a consti- 
tution. They supposed that this profound and acute 
1669. reasoner must be deeply skilled in the science of go- 

Constitu- ^ , ,.' • 1 1 • 1 

tion ot Mr vernment. In comphance with their request, he 
framed a body of fundamental laws which were ap- 
proved and adopted. A palatine for life was to be 
chosen from among the proprietors, who was to act 
as president of the palatine court, which was to be 
composed of all those who were entrusted with the 
execution of the powers granted by the charter. A 
body of hereditary nobility was created, to be de- 
nominated Landgraves, and Caciques, the former to 
be invested with four baronies, consisting each of four 
thousand acres, and the latter to have two, containing 
each two thousand acres of land. These estates were 
to descend with the dignities for ever. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 1^5 

The provincial legislature, denominaterl a Parlia- ch\p v . 
ment was to consist of the proprietors, in the absence 
of any one of whom, his place was to be supplied by 
a deputy appointed by himself; of the nobility ; and 
of the representatives of the freeholders, who were 
elected by districts. These discordant materials were 
to compose a single body which could initiate no- 
thing. The bills to be laid before it were to be pre- 
pared in a grand council composed of the governor, 
the nobility, and the deputies of the proprietors, who 
vi^ere invested also with the executive power. At the 
end of every century, the laws were to become void 
vi'ithout the formality of a repeal. Various judicato- 
ries were erected, and numerous minute perplexing 
regulations were made. This constitution, which was 
declared to be perpetual, soon furnished additional 
evidence, to the many afforded b}' history, of the 
great but neglected truth, that experience is the only 
safe school in which the science of government is to 
be acquired ; and that the theories of the closet must 
have the stamp of practice, before they can be receiv- 
ed with implicit confidence. 

The duke of Albemarle was chosen the first pala- i670. 
tine, but did not long survive his election ; and lord 
Berkeley was appointed his successor. The other 
proprietors were also named to high offices ; and Mr. 
Locke was created a landgrave. 

After this change of constitution, the attention of 
the proprietors was first directed to the south. A 
settlement was made at Port Royal, under the con- 



15S HISTORY OF THE 

CFAP V. jm^i- of William Sayle, who had been appointed go- 
vernor of that part of the coast which lies south west 
of cape Carteret. He was accompanied by J<>seph 
West, who was intrusted with the commercial affairs 
of the proprietors, and who, with the governor, con- 
ducted ihe whole mercantile business of the colony. 

Williaai Sayle, after leading the first colony to Port 
Royal, and convening a parliament in which there 
were neither landgraves nor caciques, became the vic- 
tim of the climate ; after which, the authority of sir 
John Yeamans, u ho had hitherto governed the set- 
tlement at cape Fear, was extended over the territory 
south-west of cape Carteret. In the same year, the 
foundation of old Charlestown was laid, which con- 
tinued, for some time, to be the capital of the southern 
setdements. 

"While these exertions were making in the south, 
great dissatisfaction was excited in Albemarle. In 1670, 
Stevens, the governor, had been ordered to introduce 
into that settlement, the constitution prepared by Mr. 
Locke. This innovation was strenuously opposed ; 
and the discontent it produced was increased by a 
run^our, which was not the less mischievous for being 
untrue, that the proprietors designed to dismember the 
province. There was also another cause which in- 
creased the ill humour pervading that small society. 
The proprietors attempted to stop the trade carried on 
in the vessels of New England, and the attempt pro- 
duced the constant effect of such measures — much 
ill temi)er both on the part of those who carried on 
the traffic, and of those for whom it was conducted. 



AMERICAN COLONIES' 157 

At length, these discontents broke out into open chap, v. 
insurrection. The insurgents, led by Culpeper, who 
had been appointed surveyor- general of Carolina, ob- 
tained possession of the country, seized the revenues, 
and imprisoned the president, with seven deputies 
who had been named by the proprietors. Having 
taken possession of the government, they established 
ccjurts of justice, appointed officers, called a parlia- 
ment, and, for several years, exercised the powers of 
an independent state ; yet they never, formally, dis- 
claimed the power of the proprietors. 

At this time, the titheables of Albemarle, a term 
designating all the men, with the negroes and Indian 
women, between sixteen and sixty years of age, 
amounted only to fourteen hundred ; and the exports 
consisted of a few cattle, a small quantity of Indian 
corn, and about eight hundred thousand weight of 
tobacco. 

About this time, an event occurred in the southern iGss. 
settlements, showing as well the poverty of the peo- 
ple, as the manner in which the affairs of the proprie- 
tors were conducted. Joseph VVebt, their agent, was 
appointed to succeed Yeamans in the government; 
and, the colony being unable to pay his salary, the 
plantation, and mercantile stock of the proprietors, 
were assigned to him in satisfaction of his claims. 

In England, the opinion had been long entertained 
that the southern colonies were adapted to the pro- 
duction of tliose articles which succeed in the warmer 
climates of Europe. In pursuance of this opinion. 



158 



HISTORY OP THE 



5!L|g_i Charles, in 1679, employed two vessels to transport 
foreign jirotestants into the southern colony for the 
purpose of raising wine, oil, silk, and other produc- 
tions of the south ; and, to encourage the growth of 
these articles, exempted them, for a limited time, 
from taxation. The effort, however, did not succeed* 

Old Charlestown being found an inconvenient place 
for the seat of government, the present Charleston be- 
came the metropolis of South Carolina. This situa- 
tion was deemed so unhealthy, that directions were 
given to search out some other position for a town. 
The seat of government, however, remained unalter- 
ed until the connexion with Great Britain was dis- 
solved. 

Carolina continued to increase slowly in wealth and 
population without any remarkable incident, except 
the invasion of its most southern settlement by the 
Spaniards from St. Augustine. This was occasion- 
ed, in part, by the jealousy with which the English 
colony inspired its neighbours, but was principally, 
and immediately attributable to the countenance 
given, in Charleston, to the buccaneers who then in- 
fested those seas, and who were particularly hostile to 
the Spaniards. It was with difficulty the colonists 
were prevented by the proprietors from taking ample 
vengeance for this injury. Their resentments, though 
restrained, were not extinguished ; and, until the an- 
nexation of the Floridas to the British crown, these 
colonies continued to view each other with distrust 
and enmity. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 159 

The dissatisfaction of the colony with its rnnstihi. chap, v. 
tion grew with its population. Alter some time a set- 
tled purpose was disclosed, to thwart and oppose the 
wishes of the proprietors in every thing. Wearied 
with a continued struggle to support a system not 
adapted to the condition of the people, the proprietors constitu- 
at length, abandoned the constitution of Mr. Locke, Lockla^an- 
and restored the ancient form of government.^ ^on^a. 

The discontents which arose in Virginia soon after Discontents 

, . . . . rt•^ , of Virginia. 

the restoration, continued to augment. 1 o the regu- 
larly decreasing price of tobacco, and the restraints 
imposed on commerce by the acts of navigation, 
other cause? of dissatisfaction were soon added. 
Large grants of land were made to the favourites of 
the crown : and considerable burdens were produced, 
and injuries inflicted by the hostility of the Indians. 
Agents were deputed to remonstrate against these 
improvident grants, as well as to promote the views 
of the colony with regard to other objects of great 
moment ; and a considerable tax was imposed to sup- 
port the expense of the deputation. They are said 
to have been on the point of obtaining the objects of 
their mission, when all farther proceedings were sus- 
pended in consequence of a rebellion, which, for a 
time, wore a very serious aspect. 

At the head of the insurgents was colonel Nathaniel Bacon's re- 

■ bellion. 

Bacon, a gentleman who had received his education, 
in England, at the inns of court ; and had been ap- 
pointed a member of the council soon after his arri- 

* Chalraer. History ot South Carolina and Georgia. 



160 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. V. val in Virginia. Young, bold, and ambitious ; pos= 
sessing an engaging person, and commanding elocu- 
tion ; he was well calculated to rouse and direct the 
passions of the people. Treading the path by which 
ambition marches to power, he harangued the people 
on their grievances, increased their irritation against 
the causes of their disgust, and ascribed the evils 
with which they thought themselves oppressed to 
those who governed them, while he professed no 
other object than their good. He declaimed particu- 
larly against the languor with which the Indian war 
had been prosecuted ; and, striking the note to which 
their feelings were most responsive, declared that, 
by proper exertions, it might have been already ter- 
minated. 

The people, viewing him as their only friend, and 
believing the zeal he manifested to be produced solely 
by his devotion to their cause gave him their whole 
confidence and elected him their general. In return, 
i676. he assured them that he would never lay down his 
arms until he had avenged their sufferings on the sa- 
vages, and redressed their other grievances. 

He applied to the governor for a commission ap- 
pointing him general to prosecute the war against the 
Indians. A temporising policy being pursued, he 
entered Jamestown at the head of six hundred armed 
men, and obtained all he de.nanded, from an intimi- 
dated government. No sooner had he withdrawn 
from the capital than the governor, at the request of 
the assembly which was then in session, issued a pro- 



AMERICAX COLONIES. 161 

clamation declaring: him a rebel, and commandinsr his55^?jJ^ 

. . 1676. 

followers to deliver him up, and to retire to their re- 
spective homes. Bacon and his army, equally in- 
censed at this piece of impotent indiscretion, returned 
to Jamestown, and the governor fled to Accomack. 

The general of the insurgents called a convention 
of his friends, who inveighed against the governor, for 
having, without cause, endeavoured to foment a civil 
war in the country, and after failjng in this attempt, 
for having abdicated the government, to the great 
astonishment of the people. They stated farther that, 
the governor having informed the King •' that their 
commander and his followers were rebellious, and 
having advised his majesty to send forces to reduce 
them, it consisted with the welfare of the colony, 
and with their allegiance to his sacred majesty, to 
oppose and suppress all forces whatsoever until 
the King be fully informed of the state of the / 
case by such persons as shall be sent by Nathaniel 
Bacon in behalf of the people." This extraordinary 
manifesto was concluded with the recommendation 
of an oath, first taken by the members of the conven- 
tion, to join the general and his army against the 
common enemy in all points whatever ; and to en- 
deavour to discover and apprehend such evil disposed 
persons as design to create a civil war by raising 
forces against him, and the army under his command. 

In the mean time, the governor collected a consi- 
derable force which crossed the bay under the com- 
mand of major Robert Bcverlv, and several sharp 
X 



162 HISTORY OF THE 

c^i^^- ^'- skirmishes were Fought. A civil war was commenc 
ed ; agriculture declined ; Jamestown was burnt by 
the insurgents ; those parts of the country which re- 
mained in peace were pillaged ; and the wives of 
those who supported the government were carried to 
camp, where they were very harshly treated. Virgi- 
'^'*ifSl'' "13 ^vas relieved from this threatening state of things, 
and from the encreasing calamities it portended, by 
the sudden death of Bacon. 

Having lost their leader, the malcontents were in- 
capable of farther agreement among themselves^ 
They began, separately, to make terms with the go- 
vernment, and all opposition soon ended. Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley was re-instated in his authority, and an 
assembly was convened, which seems to have been 
actuated by the spirit of revenge common to those 
who suffer in civil contests.* 

The real motives and objects of this rebellion are 
not perfectly understood. Many were disposed to 
think that Bacon's original design extended no farther 
than to gratify the common resentments against the 
Indians, and to acquire that reputation and influence 
which result from conducting a popular war success- 
fully. Others believed that he intended to seize the 
government. Whatever may have been his object, 
the insurrection produced much misery, and no good, 
to Virginia. f 

Soon after the restoration of domestic quiet, sir 
William Berkeley returned to England, and was suc- 

• Chalmer. Beverly. | Idem. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



163 



ceeded by Herbert Jeffreys, who relieved the colony 2!Li£i_L- 
from one of its complaints by making peace with the 
Indians. 

About the year 1680, an essential change was isso. 
made in the jurisprudence of Virginia. In early times, 
the assembly was the supreme appellate court of the 
province. During the administration of lord Cul- 
peper, a controversy arose between the burgesses, and 
counsellors, who composed also the general court, 
concerning the right of the latter to sit as a part of the 
assembly, on appeals from their own decisions. The 
burgesses claimed, exclusively, the privilege of judg- 
ing in the last resort. This controversy was deter- Assembly 
mined by taking all judicial power from the assembly, jjiiicid 
and allowing an appeal from judgments of the general ^'°^*'^' 
court to the King in council, where the matter in 
contest exceeded the value of three hundred pounds 
sterling.* 

From the rebellion of Bacon to the revolution in 
1688, the history of Virginia affords no remarkable 
occurrence. The low price of tobacco, that per|jetual 
source of dissatisfaction, still continued to disquiet 
the country. Combinations were formed among the 
people to raise its value by preventing, for a time, the 
growth of the article : and disorderly parties assem- 
bled to destroy the tobacco plants in the beds when 
it was too late to sow the seed again. Violent mea- 
sures were adopted to prevent these practices, and 
several individuals were executed. 

* Chalmer. Beverly, 



164 ' HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP V. These discontents did not arrest the growth of the 
Population, colony. A letter from sir Wilham Berkeley, dated 
in June, 1671, states its population at forty thousand, 
and its militia at eight thousand. A letter from lord 
Culpeper in December, 1681, supposes that there 
might then be in the colony fifteen thousand fighting 
men. This calculation however is probably exagge- 
rated, as the report of general Smith, prepared in 
1680 from actual returns, represents the militia as 
then consisting of eight thousand five hundred and 
sixty-eight men, of whom thirteen hundred were 
cavalry.* 

• Chalraer,' 



AMERICAN COLONIES. l65 

CHAP. VI . 

CHAPTER VI. 

Prosperity of New Ejigland. — TFar xvith Philip. — 
"—Edward Randolph arrives in Boston. — Maine 
adjudged to Gorges. — Purchased by Massachusetts. 
"—Royal government erected in New Hampshire. — 
-*— Complaints against Massachusetts. — Their let- 
ters patent cancelled. — Death of Charles II. — 
— James II. proclaimed- — New commission for the 
government of Nexv England. — Sir Edmond An- 
dros. — The charter of Rhode Island abrogated. — 
Odious measures of the ?iew government. — Andros 
deposed. — fVilliam and Mary proclaimed. — Reviexv 
of proceedings in New York and the Jerseys. — 
Pennsylvania granted to TFilliam Perm. — Frame 
of government. — Foundatioji of Philadelphia laid. — 
Assembly convened. — First acts of the legislature. 
Boundary line with lord Baltimore settled. 

After the departure of the commissioners, New leso, 
England was for some time quiet and prosperous, ot' New' ^ 
The plague, the fire of London, and the discontents^"^'''" ' 
of the people of England, engrossed the attention of 
the King, and suspended the execution of his plans 
respecting Massachusetts. In the mean time, that 
colony disregarded the acts of navigation, traded as 



166 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VI. an independent state, and governed New Hampshire 
and Maine without opposition.* 

War with x his state of prosperous repose was interrupted by 
a combination of Indians so formidable, and a war so 
bloody, as to threaten the very existence of all New 
England. This combination was formed by Philip, 
the second son of Massassoet. The father and eldest 
son had cultivated the friendship of the colonists ; but 
Philip, equally brave and intelligent, saw the continu- 
ing growth of the English with apprehension, and by 
his conduct soon excited their suspicion. He gave 
explicit assurances of his pacific disposition ; but, 
isrs. from the year 1670 till 1675, when hostilities com- 
menced, he was secretly preparing for them. The 
war was carried on with great vigour and various 
success : the savages, led by an intrepid chief, who 
believed that the fate of his country depended on the 
entire destruction of the English, made exertions of 
which they had not been thought capable. Several 
battles were fought ; and all that barbarous fury which 
distinguishes Indian warfare, was displayed in its full 
extent. Wherever the Indians marched, their route 
vi^as marked with murder, fire, and desolation. Mas- 
sachusetts, New Hampshire, and Plymouth, were the 
greatest sufferers. In those provinces especially, the 



• From a paper in possession ol the British administration, it appears that in 
1673, New Ens;lan<l was supposed to contain one hundred hikI twenty thousand 
souls, of whom sixteen thousKnd were able to bear arms. Three-fourths of the 
wealth and population of the country, were in Massachusetts and its depen- 
dencies. The town of Boston alone contained fifteen hundred families. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 167 

Indians were so intermingled with the whites, that chap vt. 
there was scarcely a part of the country in perfect se- 
curity, or a family which had not to bewail the loss of 
a relation or friend. For a considerable time no de- 
cisive advantage was gained. At length, the steady 
efforts of the English prevailed; and in August 1676, ig76. 
when the tide of success was runnino strona: in favour 
of the colonists, Philip, after losing his family and 
chief counsellors, wos himself killed by one of his 
own nation, whom he had offended. After, his death, 
the war was soon terminated by the submission of the 
Indians. Never had the people of New England 
been engaged in so fierce, so bloody, and so desola- 
ting a conflict. Though the warriors of the nation of 
which Philip was prince, were estimated at only five 
hundred men, he had, by alliances, increased his 
force to three thousand. In this estimate the eastern 
Indians are not included. Many houses, and flourish- 
ing villages were reduced to ashes, and six hundred 
persons were either killed in battle, or murdered pri- 
vately.* 

While this war was raging with its utmost vio- 
lence, the government of Massachusetts was under 
the necessity of directing a part of its attention to the 
claims of Mason and Gorges. The efforts of Charles 
to procure an appearance of the colony before the 
council having proved ineffectual, he determined to 
give judgment in its absence, unless an appearance 
should be entered within six months. Edward Ran- Randolph 

* Chalmer. Hutchison. 



168 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VI. dolph, who was dispatched to ^ive notice of this de- 
termination, arrived in Boston in the summer of 1676; 
and, as other letters brought by the same vessel gave 
assurance that this resolution would be adhered to, 
the general court hastened the departure of deputies 
to represent the colony, and support its interests. 

It was the opinion of the King in council that the 
line of Massachusetts did not run more than three 
miles north of the Merrimack ; and Maine was ad- 
Maine ad. judged to Gorges. The claim of Mason to New 
Gorges. Hampshire being confined to the soil, all title to 
which, though so long exercised, was now waved by 
Massachusetts ; and the terre-tenants not being before 
the court, that part of the case was decided so far only 
as respected the boundary of Massachusetts, which, 
being against the pretensions of that colony, its juris- 
diction over New Hampshire ceased. Charles had 
been for some time treating for the purchase both of 
New Hampshire and Maine which he intended to 
bestow on his favourite son, the duke of Monmouth, 
but his poverty had prevented the contract. Massa- 
chusetts, though not ignorant of this fact, finding that 
the decision respecting Maine would be in favour of 
Gorges, purchased his title for twelve hundred pounds 
sterling. The offended monarch insisted on a relin- 
quishment of the contract ; but Massachusetts, apo- 
logising for what had been done, retained the pur- 
chase, and governed the country as a subordinate 
province.* 

* Chalmer. Hotchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. l69 



New Hampshire having become a distinct colony, £!1ALZI* 
a royal government was erected in that province ; the Roy*«' go-. 
legislature of which voted an aflfectionate address to New 
Massachusetts, avowing a willingness to have retained * P* ' **• 
their ancient connexion, had such been the pleasure 
of their common sovereign. 

The temper and conduct of Massachusetts remain- 
ing unchanged, the charges against its government 
were renewed. The complaints of the Quakers 
were perseveringly urged ; and the neglect of the acts 
of navigation, constituted a serious accusation against 
the colony. The general court, in a letter to their 
agents, declared these acts " to be an invasion of the 
rights, liberty, and property, of the subjects of his 
majesty in the colony, they not being represented in 
Parliament." But as his majesty had signrfied his 
pleasure that they should be conformed to, " they had 
made provision by a law of the colony that they 
should be stricdy attended to from time to time, al- 
though it greatly discouraged trade, and was a great 
damage to his majesty^s plantation." Their agents 
gave correct information of the state of things in Eng- 
land, and assured them that only a fair compliance 
with the regulations respecting trade could secure 
them from an open breach with the crown. These 
honest representations produced the usual effect of 
unwelcome truths. They diminished the popularity 
of the agents, and excited a suspicion in Boston that 
they had not supported the interests of the colony 
with sufficient zedl. On their return, they brought 
Y 



170 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VI. Yvjth them a letter containing the requisitions of the 
King; and were soon followed by Randolph, who 
had been appointed collector at Boston. The gene- 
ral court began to manifest some disposition to ap- 
pease their sovereign, and passed several laws for 
this purpose ; but still declined complying with his 
directions to send agents with full powers to attend 
to the new ordering of the province ; and the collec- 
tor encountered insuperable obstacles in his attempts 
to execute the laws of trade. Almost every suit he 
instituted for the recovery of penalties or forfeitures 
was decided against him, at the costs of the prosecu- 
tor. These difficulties induced him to return to Eng- 
land, to solicit additional powers, which were equally 
disregarded. 

The complaints of the King on these subjects were 
answered by professions of loyalty, and by partial 
compliances with the demands of the crown ; but the 
main subject of contest remained unaltered. 

At length, being convinced that the King was de- 
termined to annul the charter, Massachusetts so far 
yielded to his will, as to appoint agents to represent 
the colony. But persons empowered to submit to 
such regulations as might be made by government, 
were, in other words, persons appointed to surrender 
the charter. They were therefore instructed not to 
do, or consent to, any thing that might infringe the 
liberties granted by charter, or the government estab- 
t684. lished thereby. These powers were declared to be 
insufficient; and the agents were informed that, un^ 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 171 

less others, in every respect satisfactory, should be ^hap. yi. 
immediately obtained, it was his majesty's pleasure 
that a quo -warranto should be issued without delay. 
This unpleasant intelligence was immediately com- 
municated to the general court, accompanied with in- 
formation of the proceedings which had lately taken 
place in England. In that country, many corpora- 
tions had surrendered their charters ; and, on the re- 
fusal of London, a quo warranto had issued against 
the city, which had been decided in favour of the 
crown. The question whether it was advisable to 
submit to his majesty's pleasure, or to permit the quo 
warranto to issue, was seriously referred to the gene- 
ral court, and was as seriously taken into considera- 
tion throughout the colony. In concurrence with the 
common sentiment, the general court determined 
that " it was better to die by other hands than their 
own." On receiving this final resolution, the fatal 
writ was issued, and was committed to the care of 
Randolph, who brought also a declaration of the 
King, that if the colony, before the writ should be 
prosecuted, would submit to his pleasure, he would 
regulate their charter for his service, and their good ; 
and would make no farther alterations in it than 
should be necessary for the support of his govern- 
ment in the province. The governor and assistants 
passed a vote of submission ; but, the deputies refus- 
ing their assent thereto, the high court of chancery, 
in Trinity term 1684, decreed against the governor 



17S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAPVL nnrt company, " that their letters patent, and the en 
rolment thereof be cancelled." 

1685. Charles did not survive this decree long enough to 
complete his system respecting the New England co- 
lonies, or to establish a new government for Massa- 

Deathof chusctts. He died early in the following year; and 

" his successor, from whose stern temper, and high 

toned opinions, the most gloomy presages had been 

James II. drawn, was proclaimed, in Boston, with melancholy 

proclaimed. ^ 

pomp. 

Their presap^es were soon verified. Immediately 
after James had ascended the throne, a commission 
was issued for a president and council, as a tempora- 
ry government for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, 
Maine, and Narraghansetts ; whose powers were en- 
tirely executive and judicial. This commission reach- 

1686. ed Boston in May, and was laid before the general 
court, not as a body invested with political authority, 
but as one composed of individuals of the first respecta- 
bility and influence in the province. The general 
court agreed unanimously to an address, in answer to 
this communication, declaring " that the liberty of the 
subject is abridged, by the new system, both in mat- 
ters of legislation and in laying taxes ; and that it high- 
ly concerns them to whom it is directed to consider 
whether it be safe ;" and added " that, if the newly 
appointed officers, mean to take upon themselves the 
government of the people, though they could not give 
their assent thereto, they should demean themselves 
as loyal subjects, and humbly make their addresses to 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 173 

God, and, in due time, to their gracious prince, for chap, vr . 
relief." ''''' 

Mr. Dudley, the president named in the commis- 
sion, was a native of Massachusetts, and seems to 
have mingled with his respect for the constitutional 
prerogative of the crown, a due regard for the rights 
of the people. Any immediate alterations, therefore, 
in the interior arrangements of the country were avoid- 
ed ; and the commissioners transmitted a memorial 
to the lords of the council for the colonies, stating the 
necessity of a well regulated assembly to represent the 
people, and soliciting an abatement of the taxes. 
This moderate conduct did not accord with the wishes 
of that class of men who court power wherever it may 
be placed. These sought the favour of their sove- 
reign by prostrating every obstacle to the execution 
of his will ; and soon transmitted complaints to ad- 
ministration, charging the commissioners with con- 
niving at violations of the laws respecting trade, and 
countenancing ancient principles in religion and go- 
vernment. 

James was dissatisfied with the conduct of his com^ 
missioners ; and was also of opinion that a wise policy 
required a consolidation of the colonies, and a perma- 
nent administration for New England. With a view sir Ed- 
to this object, he appointed Sir Edmond Andros, whoS-os. 
had governed New York, captain- general and vice- 
admiral of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, 
New Plymouth, Pemaquid, and Narraghansetts ; and 
empowered him, with the consent of a council to be 



474j history op the 

SSALZi- appointed by the crown, to make ordinances not in 
consistent with the laws of the realm, which should 
be submitted to the King for his approbation or dis- 
sent ; and to impose taxes for the support of govern- 
ment. 

In December 1685, Andros arrived at Boston, 
where he was received with the respect which was 
due to the representative of the crown. In pursu- 
ance of his orders, he dissolved the government of 
Rhode Island, broke its seal, and assumed the ad- 
ministration of the colony. In the preceding year, ar- 
ticles of high misdemeanour had been exhibited 
against that colony and referred to Sayer, the attorney 
general, with orders to issue a writ of quo warranto to 
annul their patent. The assembly stopped farther 
proceedings, by passing an act formally surrendering 
their charter. Their submission, however, availed 
them nothing. Their fate was involved in that of 
Massachusetts.* 
Odious In pursuance of the determination to break the char- 

of govern- tcrs and unite the colonies, articles of misdemeanour 
"'^"** had been also exhibited against the governor and com- 
pany of Connecticut, on which a writ of quo warranto 
had been issued. The government of that colony 
addressed a letter to the secretary of state, desiring, 
with many professions of loyalty, to remain in its pre- 
sent situation ; but, if it should be the purpose of his 
majesty to dispose otherwise of them, submitting to 
his royal commands, and requesting to be annexed to 

* Chalmer. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 175 



Massachusetts. No farther proceedings were had on ffl-^fiH 

* " J I bob. 

the quo -warranto^ and Andros was ordered to accept 
the submission of the colony, and annex it to Massa- 
chusetts. This order was executed in October, i^*^- 
when Andros appeared in Hartford at the head of a 
small corps of regular troops, demanded the char- 
ter, and declared the government to be dissolved. 
The colony submitted, but the charter was conceal- 
ed in a tree, which was venerated long afterwards and 
is still in existence.* 

The grand legislative council, composed of indi- 
viduals selected by the crown throughout the united 
colonies, readily assembled, and proceeded to execute 
the duties assigned to it. 

The measures of the new government were not cal- 
culated to diminish the odium excited by its objection- 
able from. The fees of office were enormous ; and 
the regulations respecting divine worship, marriages, 
the acts of navigation, and taxes, were deemed high- 
ly oppressive. In addition to these causes of discon- 
tent, the governor general took occasion to cast a 
doubt on the validity of the titles by which lands were 
holden. 

To obtain relief from these oppressive grievances, less. 
Mather, an eminent politician and divine, was deputed 
by the colonies of New England to lay their com- 
plaints before the King. He was graciously received, 
but could effect no substantial change in the colonial 
administration. James had determined to reduce all 



• Trumbull. Hutchison. Chalmer. 



176 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VI. ji^g governments, proprietory as well as royal, to an 
immediate dependence on the crown ; and, to effect 
this purpose, had directed writs of quo warranto to 
issue against those charters which still remained in 
force. This plan was adopted, not only for the pur- 
pose of establishing his favourite system of govern- 
ment, but also of forming a barrier to the encroach- 
ments of France, by combining the force of the colo- 
nies as far as the Delaware. During this reign, Ca- 
nada was pushed south of Lake Champlain ; and for- 
tresses were erected within the immense forests which 
then separated that province from New York and 
New England. With a view to this union of force, 
a new commission was made out for Andros, annex- 
ing New York and the Jerseys to his government, 
and appointing Francis Nicholson his lieutenant. 

The dissatisfaction of the people continued to in- 
crease j and every act of the government, even those 
which were in themselves laudable, was viewed 
through the medium of prejudice. 
1689. At length these latent ill humours burst forth into 
action. Some vague intelligence was received con- 
cerning the proceedings of the Prince of Orange in 
England. The old magistrates and leading men si- 
lently wished, and secretly prayed, that success might 
attend him, but determined to commit nothing unne- 
cessarily to hazard, and quietly to await an event, which 
no movement of theirs could accelerate or retard. 

The people were less prudent. Stung with the 
recollection of past iwjuries, their impatience, on the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 177 

first prospect of relief, could not be restrained. On the^ll^ZiZL* 
18th of April, without any apparent preconcerted plan, 
a sudden insurrection broke out in Boston, and about 
fifty of the most unpopular individuals, includini^ the 
srovernors, were seized and imprisoned ; and the gro- Anriros de- 
vernment was once more placed in the hands of the 
ancient magistrates. All apprehensions of danjijer 
from this precipitate measure were soon quieted by 
the information that William and Mary had been 
crowned King and Queen of England. They were wnii^m 
immediately proclaimed in Boston with unusual pr'ociaimeii. 
pomp, and with demonstrations of unaiFected joy.* 

The example of Massachusetts was quickly fol- 
lowed by Connecticut and Rhode Island. Andros 
was no sooner known to be in prison than he was de- 
posed also in Connecticut ; and, in both colonies the 
ancient form of government was restored. 

In New Hampshire a convention was called, which 
determined to re-annex that colony to Massachusetts, 
and deputies were elected to represent them in the 
general court. This re- union continued to be their 
wish, but was opposed by the King, who, in 1692, 
appointed for it a distinct governor. 

In order to bring the affairs of the middle colonies 
to this period, it will be necessary briefly to review 
the transactions of several years. 

The treaty of Breda, which restored Acadie to^*"^'^*." 

proceedings 

France, confirmed New Netherlands to England, in n.w 

Q_ , 1.1 . Yirk and 

uiet possession ot that valuable territory was re-N.w jer- 

sey. 
* Cbalroer. Hutchison. 

z 



178 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP-vi- taingj until 1673, when, Endand beinff engasred 

1689. . , . ? i-^ >> i-> i~> 

again in war with Holland, a small Dutch squadron 
appeared before the fort at New York, which surren- 
dered without firing a shot. The example was fol- 
lowed by the city and country ; and, in a few days, 
the submission of New Netherlands was complete. 
After this acquisition the old claim to Long Island was 
renewed, and some attempts were made to wrest it 
from Connecticut. That province however, after 
consulting its confederates, and finding that offensive 
operations would be agreeable to the union, declared 
war against the Dutch ; and not content with defend- 
ing its own possessions, prepared an expedition 
against New York. The termination of the war be- 
tween England and Holland prevented its prosecu- 
tion, and restored to the English the possessions they 
had lost.* 

To remove all controversy concerning his title, 
which had been acquired while the granted lands 
were in possession of the Dutch, the duke of York, 
after the peace of 1674, obtained a renewal of his pa- 
tent, and appointed sir Edmond Andros governor of 
his territories in Aiuerica. This commission includ- 
ed New Jersey, his former grant of which he sup- 
posed to be annulled by the conquest thereof in 1673, 
Andros, disregarding the decision of the commis- 
sioners, claimed for the duke that part of Connecticut 
which lies west of the river of that name ; and, 
during the war with Philip, endeavoured to support 

* Ti'umbuH. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 179 

his claim bv force. The determined resistance of chap vi. 
Connecticut compelled him to rehnquish an attempt 
on Saybrooke; after which he returned to New York. 
The taxes which had been laid by the Dutch were 
collected, and duties, for a limited time, were im- 
posed, by authority of the duke. This proceeding 
excited great discontent. The public resentment was 
directed, first against the governor, whose conduct 
was inquired into and approved by his master, and 
afterwards against the collector, who was seized and 
sent to England ; but never prosecuted. The repre- 
sentatives of the duke in New York, feeling the diffi- 
culty of governing a high spirited people on principles 
repugnant to all their settled opinions, repeatedly, but 
ineffectually, urged him to place the colony on the 
same footing with its neighbours, by creating a local 
legislature, one branch of which should be elected by 
the people. It was not until the year 1683, when the 
revenue laws were about to expire, when the right of 
the duke to re-enact them was denied in America, 
and doubted in England, that he could be prevailed 
on to appoint a new governor with instructions to con- 
vene an assembly.* 

In 1674, lord Berkeley assigned his interest in the 
Jerseys to William Penn and his associates. They 
afterwards acquired the title of sir George Carteret 
also, and immediately conveyed one-half of their in- 
terest to the earl of Perth and others, who, in 1683, 



Smith. 



180 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP VI. obtained a conveyance from the duke of York direct- 

1689, •' 

ly to themselves. 

During these transactions, continual efforts were 
made to re-annex the Jerseys to New York. Carteret 
had endeavoured to participate in the advantages of 
commerce by establishing a port at Amboy ; but 
Andros seized and condemned the vessels trading 
thither, and was supported by the duke in this exer- 
cise of power. The assembly of New York claimed 
the right of taxing the people of Jersey ; and the col- 
lector, continued to exercise his former authority 
within their territory. On his complaining, after the 
accession of the duke of York to the throne, that 
every vessel he prosecuted was discharged by the ver- 
dict of the jury, a writ of quo xvarranto was directed. 
The English judges did not then hold their offices 
during good behaviour ; and the proprietors of East 
Jersey, confident that the cause would be decided 
against them, surrendered their patent to the crown, 
praying only a grant of the soil. The Jerseys were, 
soon afterwards, annexed to New England.* 

Dongan, who, in 1683, had succeeded Andros in 
the government of New York, took a deep interest in 
the affairs of the five nations, who had been engaged 
in bloody wars with Canada. The French, by esta- 
blishing a settlement at Detroit, and a fort at MichiU- 
mackinack, had been enabled to extend their com- 
merce among the numerous tribes of Indians who 
hunted on the banks of the great lake?-;, and the up- 

• Chalmer. Smith. 



AMERICAN C0L0NIE9\ 181 

per branches of the Mississippi. They excluded the c hap, vr. 
people of New York from any share in this gainful 
commerce ; in consequence of which Dongan solicit- 
ed and obtained permission to aid the five nations. 
This order, however, was soon countermanded ; and 
a treaty was concluded, stipulating that no assistance 
should be given to the savages by the English colo- 
nists ; soon after which Dongan was recalled, and 
New York was. annexed to New England. 

From the accession of James to the throne, he had 
discontinued the assemblies of New York, and em- 
powered the governor, with the consent of his coun- 
cil, to make laws " as near as might be" to those of 
England. The reinstatement of this arbitrary system 
gave general disgust, and, together with the appre- 
hension that the Roman Catholic religion would be 
established, prepared the people of New York, as 
well as those of the other colonies, for that revolution 
which wrested power from hands accustomed to 
abuse it. On receiving intelligence of the revolution 
at Boston, the militia were raised by a captain Jacob 
Leisler, who took possession of the fort in the name 
of King William, and drove Nicholson, the lieutenant 
governor, oui of the country. This event gave rise 
to two parties, who long divided New York, and 
whose mumal animosities were the source of much 
uneasiness and mischief to the province.* 

William Penn having gained some knowledge of 
the country west of the Delaware, formed the design 

* Chalmer. Smith. 



Penn. 



183 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VI. of acquiring that territory as a separate estate. On 
Pennsviva- liis pctitioD, a charter was issued in 1681, granting to 
to^vviiiiamhim, in absohite property, by the name of Pennsyl- 
vania, that tract of country bounded on the east by 
the river Delaware, extending westward five degrees 
of longitude, stretching to the north from twelve miles 
north of New Castle to the forty-third degree of lati- 
tude, and limited on the south by a circle of twelve 
miles, drawn round New Castle to the beginning of 
the fortieth degree of latitude. 

In this charter, the acts of navigation were recog- 
nised, a local legislature was created, and provision 
made that a duplicate of its laus should be transmit- 
ted, within five years, to the King in council ; any of 
which that were repugnant to those of England, or 
inconsistent with the authority of the crown, might be 
declared void in six months. This charter conveyed 
nearly the same powers and privileges with that of 
Maryland, but recognised the right of Parliament to 
tax the colony. 

Penn soon commenced the settlement of the pro- 
vince, and immediately asserted a claim to a part of 
the territory which had been supposed by lord Balti- 
more to be within the bounds of Maryland. In this 
claim originated a controversy between the two pro- 
prietors, productive of considerable inconvenience 
and irritation to both. 

He published a frame of government for Pennsyl- 
vania, the chief intention of which was declared to be 
" for the support of power in reverence with the peo- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 183 

pie, and to secure the people from the abuse of power! chap, vi. 
that they may be free by their just obedience, and the 
magistrates honourable for their just administration ; 
for liberty without obedience is confusion, and obe- 
dience without liberty is slavery.'' 

This scheme of fundamental law contains many 
provisions indicating good sense and just notions of 
government, but was too complex for an infant set- 
tlement ; and, after many fruitless attempts to amend 
it, was laid aside, and a more simj)le form was 
adopted, resembling in its principal features, those 
established in the other colonies, which remained 
until the proprietary government itself was dissolved. 

In August 1682, Penn obtained from the duke of 
York a conveyance of the town r f New Castle, with 
the territory twelve miles around it, and that tract of 
land extending thence southward, on the Delaware, 
to cape Henlopen. Soon after this grant was issued, 
he embarked for America, accompanied by about 
two thousand emigrants ; and, in the October follow- 
ing, landed on the banks of the Delaware. In addi- 
tion to the colonists sent out by himself, he ft und, on 
his arrival several small settlements of Swedes, Dutch, 
Finlanders, and English, amounting to about three 
thousand persons. Penn cultivated the good will of 
the natives, from whom he purchased such lands as 
were necessary for the present use of the colonists. 
At this time the foundation of Philadelphia was laid. Foundation 
which, we are assured contained near one hundred phia,' ^ ^'" 
houses within twelve months from its commencement. 



184 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP VI. ^„ assembly was convened which, instead of being 
composed of all the freemen, according to the frame 
of government, was, at the request of the people 
themselves, constituted of their representatives. 
Among the laws which were enacted was one annex- 
ing the territories lately purchased from the duke of 
York to the province, and extending to them all its 
privileges. Universal freedom in religion was estab- 
lished ; and every foreigner who promised allegiance 
to the King, and obedience to the proprietor was de- 
clared a freeman.* 

In the hope of extending his limits to the Chesa- 
peake, Penn, soon after his arrival, met lord Baltimore 
for the purpose of adjusting their boundaries. The 
patent of that nobleman calls for the fortieth degree 
of north latitude, and he proposed to determine the 
intersection of that degree with the Delaware by ac- 
tual observation. Penn, on the contrary, insisted on 
finding the fortieth degree by mensuration from the 
capes of Virginia, the true situation of which had been 
already ascertained. Each adhering firmly to his own 
proposition, the controversy was referred to the com- 
mittee of plantations, who, after the crown had de- 
scended on James, decided that the peninsula between 
the bays of Chesapeake and Delaware, should be di- 
vided into two equal parts by a line drawn from the 
latitude of cape Henlopen to the fortieth degree, and 
adjudged that the land lying from that line towards 
the Delaware should belong to his majesty, and the 

• History of Pennsylvania. Chalmcr. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 185 

Other moiety to lord Baltimore. This adjudication ch\p vr. 
was ordered to be immediately executed. 

Pennsylvania was slow in acknowledging the Prince 
and Princess of Orange. The government continu- 
ed to be administered in the name of James for some 
time after his abdication was known. At lenirth, 
however, William and Mary were proclaimed ; and 
Penn had the address to efface the unfavourable im- 
pressions which this delay was calculated to make on 
them. 



Aa 




1689. 



HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER VII. 



New charter of Massachusetts. — Affairs of New York, 
•^-ffar with France. — Schenectady destroyed. — 
Expedition against Port Royal. — Against Quebec. 
— Acadie recovered by France. — Pemaguid taken. 
-—Attempt on St. Johns. — Peace. — Affairs of New 
York. — Of Virginia. — Disputes between England 
and France respecting boundary in America. — Re- 
commencement oj hostilities. — Quotas of the respec- 
tive colonies. — Treaty of neutrality between France 
and the Jive nations. — Expedition against Port 
Royal. — Incursion v:to Massachusetts. — Plan for 
the invasion of Caiiada. — Port Royal taken. — Ex- 
pedition against Quebec. — Treaty of Utrecht. — Af- 
fairs of New York. — Of Carolina. — Expedition 
against St. Augustine. — Attempt to establish the 
Episcopal church. — Jnvasion of the colony. — Bills of 
credit issued. — Legislature continues itself — Alas- 
sacre in North Carolina by the Indians. — Tuscaro- 
ras defeated. — Scheme of a Bank. 

The revolution which placed the Prince and Prin- 
cess of Orange on the throne, revived in Massachu- 
setts, the hope of recovering the ancient charter. 
Elections were lield bv authority of the temporary go- 
vernment, and the representatives requested the coun- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 18^ 

cil to exercise, until orders should be received from c»AP.vn. 
il.ngland, the powers and authorities vested in that 
body by the charter. The council acceded to this 
proposition ; and the ancient system was re-estab- 
lished. 

It was soon perceived by the agents of Massachu- 
setts that the old charter would not be restored, and 
that the King u as determined to retain the appoint- 
ment of the governor in his own hands. The colony, 
however, was authorised to exercise the powers of 
government according to the ancient system, until a 
new arrangement should be made. The vessel by 
which these directions were transmitted, carried also 
orders that sir Edmond Andros, and those imprisoned 
with him, should be sent to England. 

The general court deputed additional agents, with 
instructions to solicit the confirmation of their beloved 
charter ; but these solicitations were ineffectual. The 
King was inflexible; and, at length, a new charter was jgg, 
framed, more eligible than the first in many respects, ^|:* ^''^'*' 
but introducing some changes which affected radically 
the independence that had been long practically pos- 
sessed by the colony. The governor was to be ap- 
pointed by the crown, was enabled to call, adjourn, 
prorogue, and dissolve the assembly at pleasure ; he 
had the appointment solely, of all military officers ; 
and, with the consent of his council, of all officers be- 
longing to the courts of justice. 

Sir William Phipps, the first governor, arrived in i^^^. 
May, and immediately issued writs for a general as- 



188 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP, vn . semblv, which met in June, and accepted the charter: 

lt)92. ■' 

though a considerable party had been formed to op- 
pose it. This instrument annexed Plymouth and 
Nova Scotia to Massachusetts ; but, contrary to the 
wishes of both colonies, omitted New Hampshire, 
which became permanently a separate government.* 
Aff'irs of In New York, Leisler, who had obtained the en- 
tire control of the lower country, associated with 
himself in the government, a few trusty partisans, de- 
nominated a committee of safety, over whom he pre- 
. sided. Some of the principal inhabitants of the city, 
dissatisfied at seeing a man of low birth, without edu- 
cation, in possession of supreme power, retired to Al- 
bany, where a convention of the people was assembled, 
who determined to hold the fort and country for the 
King and Queen, but not to submit to the authority 
of Leisler. On receiving intelligence of these transac- 
tions, Jacob Milbourne was detached with a small 
force to reduce the place ; but, finding that the people 
adhered to the convention, and that his harangues 
against James and popery made no impression on 
them, he returned to New York. The next spring 
he appeared again before the fort ; and, being favour- 
ed by an irruption of the Indians, obtained posses- 
sion of it. The principal members of the convention 
absconded, upon u hich their effects were seized and 
confiscated. This harsh measure produced resent- 
ments which were transmitted from father to son. 
Leislerjretained the supreme power, without farther 

* Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 189 

opposition, until the arrival of sir Henry Slaughter, chap, vii 
who had been appointed governor of the province. 
Though informed of the commission which Slaughter 
bore, this infatuated man refused to yield the govern- 
ment to him ; and showed a disposition, without the 
ability, to resist. This ill judged obstinacy threw the 
governor, who soon obtained possession of the fort, 
into the arms of the opposite party. Leisler and 
Milbourne were arrested, tried for high treason, con- 
demned, and executed. Their estates were confis- 
cated, but were afterwards restored to their families.* 
While these things were passing in the interior, 
the colonies of New England and New York were 
engaged in a bloody and desolating w-ar with the 
French of Canada, and with the Indians. The Eng- 
lish people had long viewed with apprehension, the 
advances of France towards universal dominion ; and 
with infinite disgust, the influence of Louis XIV. in 
their cabinet. On the elevation of the Prince of 
Orange to the throne, they entered with alacrity into 
all his views for opposing barriers to the power, and 
restraints on the ambition, of that haughty monarch. 
The war which was proclaimed between the two na- w^ar wim 
tions, extended itself to their possessions in America.*'""''^' 
De Calliers, v\ho sailed from Canada to France in 
1688, had formed a plan for the conquest of New 
York, which was adopted by his government. Caf- 
finiere commanded the ships which sailed from Roche- 
fort on this expedition, subject however to the count 



Smith. 



190 HISTOUY OF THE 

CHAP . VII . q]q Frontiffnac, who was sreneral of the land forces 

1692. . '^ 

destined to march from Canada by the route of the 
river Sorel and of lake Champlain. The fleet and 
troops arrived at Chebucta, whence the count pro- 
ceeded to Qiiebec leaving orders with Caffiniere to 
sail to New York. 

On reaching Quebec, the count found all Canada 
in the utmost distress. In the preceding summer, 
twelve hundred warriors of the Five nations had sud- 
denly landed on the island of Montreal, and put to 
death about one thousand of the inhabitants whom 
they found in perfect security. The place was again 
attacked in October, and the lower part of the island 
entirely destroyed. In consequence of these calami- 
tous events, fort Frontij^nac, on lake Ontario, was 
evacuated, and two vessels which had been construct- 
ed there were burnt. 

Count Frontignac, who, in his sixty-eighth year, 
possessed the activity of youth, after remaining a few 
days on shore, re-embarked in a canoe for Montreal. 
In the hope of conciliating the Five nations, he held a 
great council with them at Onondago, where the In- 
dians showed some disposition towards a peace with- 
out concluding one. To influence their deliberations, 
and raise the depressed spirits of the Canadians, he 
sent out several parties against the English colonies. 
That against New York, consisting of about two 
hundred French, and some Indians ; after marching 
twenty -two days with their provisions on their backs, 
through a wilderness covered deep with snow, arri- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 191 

ved, on 8th of February 1690, about eleven at night, 9!il^ZIL 
at Schenectady, a village a few miles north-west of 
Albany. Finding the gates open and unguarded, J^'^^^^-oV- 
they immediately entered the town, the inhabitants of '=^- 
which were asleep; and, dividing themselves into 
small parties, invested every house at the same time. 
No alarm was given until the doors were broken 
open ; and then was commenced the perpetration 
of those barbarities which add so much to the ordina- 
ry horrors of war. The whole village was instantly 
in flames; pregnant women were ripped open and their 
infants cast into the flames, or dashed against the 
posts of the doors. Sixty persons were massacred, 
twenty-seven carried into captivity, and those who 
escaped fled naked, through a deep snow and storm 
to Albany. In the flight, twenty-five lost their limbs 
from the intensity of the cold. The town was pillaged 
until about noon the next day, uhen the enemy 
marched off" with their plunder. Being pursued by a 
party of young men from Albany, about twenty-five 
of them were killed and captured.* 

In the spring and summer of 1689, several settle- 
ments and forts in New Hampshire and Maine, were 
successfully attacked by the Indians ; who, wherever 
they were victorious, perpetrated their usual cruelties. 
Knowing that these depredations originated in Cana- 
da and Acadie, the general court of Massachusetts 
planned an expedition asrainst both Port Roval and Expedition 

' * , " , against Port 

Quebec. iLarly in the spring, eight small vessels, Royai. 

• Smith, 



19S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VII. carrying seven or eight hundred men, sailed under 
the command of sir William Phipps ; and, almost 
without opposition, took possession of Port Royal, 
and of the whole coast between that place and 
New England. The fleet returned in May, hav- 
ing taken nearly plunder enough to discharge the ex- 
pense of the equipment. But two detachments made 
about the same time by count Frontignac, attacked 
the Salmon falls, and fort Casco, where.they killed 
and took about one hundred and eighty persons. 

A vessel had been dispatched to England in April 
with letters urging the importance of conquering 
Canada, and soliciting the aid of the King to that en- 
terprise. He was however too much occupied in 
Europe to attend to America ; and it was determined 
to prosecute the expedition without his assistance. 

Against New York and Connecticut, enarasfed to furnish a 

Quebec. ' o o 

body of men, to march, by the way of lake Champ- 
Iain, against Montreal, while the troops of Massachu- 
setts should proceed by sea to Quebec. The fleet, 
consisting of between thirty and forty vessels, the 
largest of which carried forty-four guns, sailed from 
Nantucket the ninth of August, having on board two 
thousand men. This expedition also was command- 
■*. ed by sir William Phipps, a brave man, but not 
qualified for so difiicult an enterprise. He did not 
arrive before Quebec until October, when it was too 
late for a regular seige. Instead of availing himself 
of the first impression, sir William is charged with 
having wasted two or three days in sight of the place? 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 193 

after which he summoned it to surrender. Having ^"^.^^"' 
performed this ceremony, he landed between twelve 
and thirteen hundred men, and marched until night, 
under a scattering fire from an enemy concealed in 
the woods. At night, a deserter gave such an ac- 
count of the French force as entirely discouraged him. 

Connecticut and New York were disappointed in 
receiving the assistance expected from the Five na- 
tions ; who furnished neither the warriors they had 
promised, nor canoes to transport their troops over 
the lakes. The commissary too had neglected to 
lay up the necessary supplies of provisions. These 
disappointments, obliged the party destined against 
Montreal to retreat without making an attempt on 
that place ; which enabled the French general to op- 
pose the whole force of Canada to Phipps. 

The evening after the troops were landed, the ships 
were drawn up before the place, but received more 
damage from the batteries than they could do to the 
town. After wasting a few days in unavailing parade, 
the army re-embarked with precipitation, and return- 
ed to Boston. 

The general court, so far from suspecting that the 
expedition might possibly miscarry, seem to have 
counted, not only on success, but on acquiring suffi- 
cient treasure from the enemy to pay their soldiers. 
The army, finding the government totally unprepared 
to satisfy its claims, was on the point of mutinying. 
In this state of difficulty, bills of credit were issued, 
and were received in lieu of monev. A tax was im- 
B b 



194j history op the 

CHAP.'vn. posed at the same time, payable in the paper notes of 
the colony at five per centum above par. Notwith- 
standing the exertions to keep up its credit, the paper 
depreciated to fourteen shillings in the pound, which 
depreciation was, almost entirely, sustained by the 
army. As the time for collecting the tax approached, 
the paper rose above par, but this appreciation was 
gained by the holders.* 

Colonel Phipps, soon after his return from Cana* , 
embarked for Eng^land, to renew the solicitations . 
the colony for aid in another attempt on Queb 
Though unsuccessful in this application, the govei 
ment of the province was bestowed on him ; and, 
this character, he returned to Boston. A desultc 
war continued to be carried on, which, without fi 
nishing any events that would now be interesting, 
produced heavy expense, and much individi ' 
misery. 

Canada being considered as the source of all the 
evils, its conquest continued to be the favourite obj( 
of Massachusetts. At length, King William yield 
to the solk-itations of that colony dnd determined 
1693. empl(iy a force for the reduction of Quebec. Unf( 
tunately the first part of the plan was to be executed 
in the West Indies, where the capture of Martinique 
was contemplated. While on that service a conta- 
gious fever attacked both the land and sea forces ; 
and, before they reached Boston, thirteen hundred 
sailors, and eighteen hundred soldiers, were buried. 

• See note No. 1, of the Appendix. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 195 

The survivors not being in a condition to prosecute chap.'vii 
the enterprise, it was abandoned.* 

On the conquest of Acadie by sir William Phipps, 
the government of Massachusetts had been extended 
over that province; but, as the prejudices and affec- 
tions of the inhabitants were entirely on the side of 
France, it was soon perceived that a military force 
alone could preserve the acquisition ; and Massachu- 
setts was unable, at her own expense, to support a 
sufficient body of troops for the defence of the coun- 

Port Royal was recovered by Villebonne, after leoc. 
which all Acadie shook off" the government of Massa- 
chusetts, and resumed its allegiance to France. About 
^}-' ■ ame time a fort at Peuiaquid was attacked and 

dby Iberville. 

- December, the treaty of peace which had been Peace, 
concluded at Riswick was proclaimed at Boston ; and 
Iv'Stiiities with the French in Canada immediately 
ce' id. The depredations of the Indians continued 

a short time after this event ; and, in the course 
^ tie following year, general tranquillity was re- 
siore.d. 

le frontiers of New Hampshire had been not less i697. 

led during the war, than those of Massachusetts. 
X cipetual and distressing incursions had been made 
into the country, which were marked by the burning 
of undefended habitations, and the massacre of men, 
women, and children.f 

The frontiers of New York were covered by the ^JrvOTk. 

• Hutchison. Belknap. + Belknap. 



196 HISTOftY OF THE 

CHAP. VII. Pi vff nations. Hostilities were carried on between 
them and the French, but they were not attended by 
any material circumstance. 

During the war the English government meditated 
a union of the colonies for the purpose of forming an 
army to defend New York ; and the governors were 
instructed to propose to the several provinces to raise 
the quota of troops assigned to each* by the crown. 
Though this plan never took effect, the fact is of some 
interest. 

The influence of the French not yet extending far 
enough south to involve the colonies beyond New 
York in the calamities of Indian warfare, few occur- 
rences took place among them which deserve atten- 
OfVirginia.tion. In Virginia, the college of William and Mary, 
to which a charter had been granted in 1692, was 
liberally endowed, and was established at Williams- 
burg by an act of assembly which passed in the year 
1693. In 1698, the state-house at Jamestown, with 
many valuable papers, was consumed by fire ; and, in 
the following year, the legislature passed an act for 
removing the seat of government to Williamsburg, 



The quotas assigned by the crown are as follows : 

To Massachusetts Bay - - 350 

Rhode Island and Providence plantations 48 

Connecticut - - - - 120 

New York . _ . - 200 

Pennsylvania - _ _ 80 

Maryland - - - - 160 

Virginia ... - 240 

1 Total 1,198 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 197 

then called the middle plantation, and for building a^Jil^pLlL 
capitol at that place. 

By the treaty of Riswick, it was agreed that France 
and England should mutually restore to each other 
all conquests made during the war; and it was farther 
stipulated that commissioners should be appointed to 
examine and determine the rights and pretentions of 
each monarch to the places situated in Hudson's bay. 

The consequences of not ascertaining boundaries 
were soon perceived. The English claimed as far 
west as the St. Croix, while France asserted her 
right to the whole country east of the Kennebeck. 

These claims remained unsetded ; and were 
mingled with other differences of more importance, 
which soon occasioned the re-commencement of hos-war re- 
tilities. 

The whole weight of the war in America fell on it'os. 
New England. Previous to its commencement, the 
earl of Bellamont, who was, at that time governor of 
New York as well as of Massachusetts and of New 
Hampshire, had required that the quotas of men, as- 
signed by the crown to the different colonies for the 
defence of New York, should be furnished. This 
requisition however was not complied with ; and, be- 
fore hostilities began, a treaty of neutrality was nego- 
tiated between the Five nations and the governor of 
Canada, which was assented to by lord Cornbury, 
then governor of New York. This treaty preserved 
the peace of that province, but left Massachusetts 



198 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP vii. and New Hampshire to struff^le with the combined 

170;^. 

force of the French and their Indian allies ; — a strug- 
gle which seems to have been viewed by New York 
with the utmost composure. 

Hostilities between Great Britain and France were 
immediately followed by incursions of French and 
Indians into the exposed parts of New England. A 
predatory^ and desolating war, attended with-no strik- 
ing circun»stance, but with considerable expense and 
great individual distress, was carried on for so^rt** 
years. During its continuance, propositions wi " 
made for a cessation of hostilities ; and the nego'ii- 
tions on this subject were protracted to a considera '■• 
length ; but Dudley, who had succeeded the earl ,;i 
Bellamont as governor of Massachusetts and N 
Hampshire, declined engaging for the neutrality e 
those provinces, in the hope that Nova Scotia a 
Canada might be subdued in the course of the wai 
1707. The battle of Almanza, in Spain, having inducer] 
the British cabinet to direct an armament intended 
for New England to European objects, Dudley r'e 
termined to make an attempt on Acadie, though lo 
aid should arrive from England. With this view, 'e 
applied, early in the spring, to the assemblies of bt 
his provinces, and to the colonies of Connecticut anu 
Rhode Island ; requesting them to raise one thousand 
men for the expedition. Connecticut declined fur- 
nishing her quota ; but the othe^ three colonies raised 
the whole number, uho were disposed into two regi- 
ments, one commanded by colonel Wainright, and 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 199 

the other by colonel Hilton. On the 13th of May, ^"^^j ^'"- 
they embarked at Nantucket on board a fleet of 
transports furnished with whale boats, under convoy 
of a man of war and a galley. The chief command 
was given to colonel March, who had behaved gal- 
lantly in several encounters with the Indians, but had 
never been engaged in such service as this. They 
orrJv^'] before Port Royal in a few days, and landed 
ut opposition. After making some ineffectual 
ipts to bombard the fort, a disagreement among 
)fficers, and a misapprehension of the state of the 
and garrison, induced the troops to re-embark in 
sorderly manner.* Dudley, who was unwilling 
ilinquifth the enterprise, directed the army to re- 
n in its position till farther orders. March was 
v)ved by the soldiers, and was known to be brave, 
his capacity was doubted. It was therefore 
'! ght unsafe either to recal him, to place an officer 
v; • him, or to continue him in the chief command. 
; ejipedient devised in this perplexity was, to send 
immission to the army, composed of three mem- 
<:; ; of the council, invested with all the powers which 
llif governor himself, if present, would possess. 
These commissioners arrived at Casco about the 
middle of July, where they found the army insubordi- 
nate, and indisposed to the service. The troops, how- 
ever, were again embarked, and arrived at Passama- 
quodi, on the seventh of August. The spirits of the 
general were broken, and his health was impaired. 

• Belknap. 



200 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VII While dispositions for landing the army were mak- 
ing, he declared his inability to act, and the command 
devolved on colonel Wainright. The landing was 
effected on the 10th of August ; but the troops could 
not be inspired with that union and firmness which 
are essential to success. After devoting ten days to 
inefficient, unmeaning operations, they re-embarked, 
and returned, sickly, fatigued and dispirited. 

During this unfortunate expedition, the frontiers 
were kept in perpetual alarm by small parties of In- 
1708. dians ; and, in the succeeding year, a formidable 
armament was destined by Vaudreuil, the governor 
of Canada, against New England. This enterprise 
was not fully prosecuted, in consequence of the failure 
of several Indian tribes to furnish the number of war- 
riors expected from them. A considerable force, hovv- 
incursion evcr penetrated into Massachusetts, and burnt a part 

into Mas- r-TT i-ii i i 

sachusetts. of the town 01 Jlavernill ; where about one hundred 
persons were killed and many others carried off as 
prisoners. These invaders were pursued and over- 
taken by a body of troops collected in the neighbour- 
hood, who killed a few of them, and recovered seve- 
ral of their own countrymen. 

The new England colonies, still attributing all these 
calamities to the French were earnest in their solici- 
tations to the crown, for aids which might enable 
them to conquer Canada. Their application was sup- 
ported by the representations of Francis Nicholson, 
who had been lieutenant governor, first of New York, 
and afterward of Virginia; of Samuel Veitch, a trader 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 20i 

to Nova Scotia, and of colonel Schuyler, a srentleman ^"^^- ^" - 
of great influence in New York, who undertook a 
voyage to England for the purpose of communicating 
his sentiments more fully to administration, and car- 
ried with him resolutions of the assembly, expressing 
the high opinion that body entertained of his merit. 
Influenced by these representations, the British cabi- 
net determined to undertake an expedition asjainst 
the French settlements on the continent of North 
America, and on New Foundland, to consist of a 
squadron, having on board five regiments of resjular 
troops, which were to be at Boston by the middle of 
May, 1709, where they were to be joined by twelve i709. 
hundred men to be raised in Massachusetts and 
Rhode Island. Fifteen hundred men also were to 
be raised in the governments south of Rhode Island, 
who should proceed, by the way of lake Champlain, 
against Montreal. All the colonies, except Pennsyl- 
vania, executed with punctuality the part assia^ned to 
them. Nicholson, who was appointed to command 
the troops destined against Montreal, marched to 
Wood creek, where he was ordered to continue, 
until the arrival of the forces from Europe ; that the 
two armies might co-operate with each other. The 
New England troops, who had been assembled at 
Boston remained at that place till September, expect- 
ing the arrival of the fleet and army from England. 
About that time, Nicholson returned from Wood 
creek, and it was obviously too late to proceed against 
Quebec. A meeting of the commanding officers, and 
Cc 



SOS HISTORY OF THE 



^"^jj ^"' governors of provinces was requested, in order to de- 
liberate on future operations. A few days before this 
meeting was to take place, a ship arrived from Eng- 
land, with the intelligence that the armament intended 
for America had been ordered to Portugal, and with 
directions to hold a council of war, in order to deter- 
mine on the propriety of employing the troops raised 
in America, against Port Royal ; in which event the 
ships of war then at Boston were to aid the expedi- 
tion. The commanders of the ships, except captain, 
afterwards admiral, Matthews, refused to engage in 
this service ; and, it being unsafe to proceed without 
convoy, the men were disbanded.* 

A congress, composed of governors, and of dele- 
gates from several of the assemblies, met at Rhode 
Island, and recommended the appointment of agents 
to assist colonel Nicholson in representing the state 
of the country to the Queen, and soliciting troops for 
an expedition against Canada, the next spring. Go- 
vernment seems at first to have thought favourably of 
this proposal, but finally determined to proceed only 
1710, against Port Royal. Five frigates and a bomb ketch, 
which were assigned for this service, arrived with 
Nicholson, in July. Although the troops were then 
to be raised, the whole armament, consisting of one 
regiment of marines, and four regiments of infantry, 
sailed from Boston the I8th of September ; and, on 
the 24th arrived before Port Royal. The place was 
immediately invested, and, after the exchange of a few 

* Belknap. Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 203 

shot and shells, was surrendered. Vietch was ap- ^ha'p vit- 

1 , . . ,. , 1710. 

pointed governor, and its name, in compliment to the 
Queen, was changed to Annapolis. 

After the reduction of Port Royal, Nicholson re- 
turned to England to renew the often repeated solici- 
tations for an expedition against Canada. The min- 
istry was now changed ; and the colonists despaired 
of obtaining from those in power, any aids against the 
French. Contrary to the general expectation, his ap- 
plication succeeded ; and he arrived at Boston, in 
June, with orders to the governors as far south as i7ii. 
Pennsylvania, to get their quotas of men and provi- 
sions in readiness to act with the fleet and army ex- 
pected from Europe. Within sixteen days, while 
the several governors were yet deliberating on the 
subject of these orders, the fleet arrived. The service 
according perfectly with the wishes of the people as 
well as of the governors, every practicable exertion 
was made ; and difficulties were overcome which, on 
other occasions, nught have been deemed insurmounta- 
ble. To supply the money which the English treasury 
could not then advance, the general court of Massa- 
chusetts issued bills of credit to the amount of f jrty 
thousand pounds ; and the example was followed by 
Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Provi- 
sions were obtained by impressment. 

The army consisted of seven veteran regiments, 
who had served under the duke of Marlborough ; one 
regiment of marines; and two regiments of provin- 
cials ; amounting, in the whole, to six thousand five 



204 HISTORY OF THE 

Ei^ILIIL hundred men ; a force equal to that which afterwards 
reduced Quebec, when in a much better state of de- 
fence. This armament sailed from Boston on the 
30th of July. Their sanguine hopes were all blasted 
in one f^tal nipjht. On the 23d of August, in the 
river St. Lawrence, the weather being thick and dark, 
eight transports were wrecked on Egg Island, near 
the north shore, and one thousand persons perished. 
The next day the fleet put back, and was eight days 
beating down the river against an easterly wind, 
which, in two, would have carried it to Quebec. After 
holding a fruitless consultation respecting an attempt 
on Placentia, the expedition was abandoned ; and the 
squadron sailed for England. Loud complaints were 
made, and heavy charges reciprocated, on this occa- 
sion. The ignorance of the pilots, the obstinacy of 
the admiral, the detenuon of the fleet at Boston, its 
late arrival there, the want of seasonable orders, and 
the secret intentions of the ministry, were all subjects 
of bitter altercation ; but no regular inquiry was ever 
made into the causes of the miscarriage. 

The plan of this campaign embraced also an at- 
tack on Montreal, Four thousand men raised in Con- 
necticut, New York, and New Jersey, and command- 
ed by colonel Nicholson, marched against that place 
by the way of Albany and lake Champlain. The 
failure of the expedition against Quebec enabling the 
governor of Canada to turn his whole force towards 
the lakes, Nicholson was under the necessity of making 
a precipitate retreat. 



AMERICAN C0L0NIE3 205 

No other event of importance took place dnrinpr CHAP.viT . 

1 • -111 >. I'll 

this war, which was terminated by the treaty or 

Utrecht. By the 12th article of this treaty, France Peac*" 

ceded to England " all Nova Scotia or Acadie, with 

its ancient boundaries, as also the city of Port Royal, 

now called Annapolis Royal, and all other things 

in those parts which depend on the said lands." 

This territory, which had been comprehended in the 

grant made to the Plymouth company, was, with the 

consent of that company, afterwards granted by James 

as King of Scotland, under the name of Nova Scotia, 

to sir William Alexander. 

In New York, the Leislerian and anti-Leislerian Affairs oj 

, ^ ^Jcw York 

parties continued to persecute each other. To this 
calamity was added, in the year 1702, the still heavier 
affliction of a malignant fever, imported in a vessel 
from the West Indies, which, in almost every in- 
stance, proved mortal. A similar disease raged, about 
the s?.me time, in several other sea port towns ; and 
was probably the same which has since produced 
such fatal effects under the name of the yellow fever. 

In the same year, lord Cornbury, a needy and pro- 
fligate nobleman, was appointed governor of the pro- 
vince. He embraced the anti-Leislerian party, that 
being then the strongest. On meeting the assembly, 
he urged the necessity of providing money for the 
public exigencies ; and, as he had arranged himself 
with the ruling party, the vote of supply was liberal. 

It was soon perceived that the confidence in the 
governor was misplaced. Considerable sums levied 



20Q HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VII. for objects of great interest, were applied to his pri- 
vate use. The system adopted in New York, for 
collecting; and keeping public money, was calculated 
to favour this peculation. The colony having no 
treasurer, its revenue came into the hands of the re- 
ceiver general for the crown, whence it was drawn by 
a warrant from the governor. Contests soon arose, 
between his lordship and the legi-slature, on the sub- 
ject of money ; the house requiring a statement of 
disbursements, and the appointment of a treasurer, to 
be controled by them. At length, in 1706, an act 
was passed raising three thousand pounds for fortifi- 
cations, and directing the money to be placed in the 
hands of a person named by the legislature. The as- 
sent of the governor to this act was not given till the 
succeeding year, and was then accompanied with a 
message stating, that he had it in command from the 
Queen " to permit the general assembly to name their 
own treasurer when they raised extraordinary supplies 
for particular uses and which are no part of the stand- 
ing and constant revenue." 

The continual demands of the governor for money, 
his misapplication of it, his extortion in the form of 
fees, and his haughty tyrannical conduct increased the 
irritation subsisting between him and the legislature. 
At length, the Queen yielded to the complaints of 
both New York and New Jersey, and consented to 
recal him. 

During these altercations, some spirited resolutions 
were entered into by the assembly ; one of which 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



307 



claims particular notice. It is in these words. " Re- - "^f^^" ' 
solved, that the imposing and levying of any monies 
upon her majesty's subjects in this colony, under any 
pretence or colour whatsoever, without their consent 
in general assembly, is a grievance, and violation of 
the people's property." 

This strong assertion of a principle, which after- 
wards dismembered the British empire, then passed 
away without notice. It was probably understood 
to be directed only against the assumption of that 
power by the governor.* 

In Carolina, the vexatious contests with the pro- Aftaus ot ' 

... . , ^,,, ... . Carolina. 

pnetors still continued. 1 he public attention was, 
for a time diverted from these, by hostilities with their 
neighbours of Florida. Before the declaration of war 1702. 
made against France and Spain, had been officially 
communicated, it was reported in the colonies that 
this event had taken place, and Mr. Moore, the go- 
vernor of the southern settlements, proposed to the 
assembly an expedition against St. Augustine. Tem- 
perate men were opposed to this enterprise ; but the 



• So early as the year 1692, the difference of opinion between the mnther 
country and the colonies on the great point, which aticrwanls separated them, 
made its appeaiance. The legislature of Massacliuselts, <mploy>-d in estab- 
lishing a code of laws under their new charter, passed an act containing the ge- 
neral principles respecting the liberty of the subject, that are asserted in mag' 
na charia, in which was the meiuoiable clause, «' no aid, lax, talliagc, assess- 
ment, custom, benevolence, or imposition whatsoever, shall b. laid, assessed, 
imposed, or levied, on an) ofhis majesty's subjects or their estates, on any pre- 
tence whatsoever, but by the act and consf nt of the governor, council, and re- 
presentatives of the people, assembled in general courw" 

It is scarcely necessary to add that the royal assent to this act was refused. 



SOS HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VII. assurances of the s:overnor, that Florida would be au 

1702. ^ 

easy conquest, and that immense treasure would be 
the reward of their valour, were too seductive to be 
resisted. A great majority of the assembly declared 
in favour of the expedition, and voted the sum of two 
thousand pounds sterling for its prosecution. Six 
hundred militia were embodied for the service, and 
an equal number of Indians engaged as auxiliaries. 
^Xs^t'S" ^^ ^^^ P^^" °^ operations which had been concert- 
Augustine. ed, colonel Daniel was to move by the inland pas- 
sage, with a party of militia and Indians, and attack 
the town by land ; while the governor, with the main 
body should proceed by sea, and bk^ck up the har- 
bour. Colonel Daniel executed his part of the plan 
with promptitude and vigour. He advanced against 
the town, which he entered and plundered before the 
governor reached the harbour. The Spaniards, how- 
ever, had been apprised of the preparations making 
at Charleston, and had laid up provisions for four 
months, in the castle, into which they retired, as 
Daniel entered the town. On the arrival of the go- 
vernor, the place was completely invested ; but, it 
being impossible to carry the castle without battering 
artillery, colonel Daniel was dispatched to Jamaica 
for cannon, bombs, and mortars. During his absence^ 
two small Spanish vessels of war were seen oiF the 
mouth of the harbour ; upon which the governor rais- 
ed the siege, abandoned his transports, and made a 
precipitate retreat to Carolina. Colonel Daniel re- 
turned soon afterwards, and, having no suspicion that 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S09 

the sie8:e was raised, stood in for the harbour. He charvii. 
fortunately discovered his situation m time to escape, 
though with much difficuhy." 

This rash and ill conducted expedition entailed on 
the colony a debt of six thousand pounds sterling. 
The ignominy attached to it was soon wiped off by 
one that was attended with better success. The Ap- 
palachian Indians, who were attached to the Span- 
iards, had become extremely troublesome to the in- 
habitants of the frontiers. The governor, at the head 
of a body of militia and friendly Indians, marched 
into the heart of their settlements, laid their towns in 
ashes, made several prisoners, and compelled them to 
sue for peace, and submit to the British government.* 

Soon after this transaction, sir Nathaniel Johnson, Governor 
who had been appointed to succeed Mr. Moor arrived 
in Charleston. He endeavoured, but ineffectually to 
turn the attention of the colonists to the culture of 
silk. This article, as well as cotton was neglected, 
and rice became the great staple of the country. 

During his administration, the contests between ^//^^J||p,J ^° 
the proprietors and the people increased. An attempt ^'^J ^^^fX 
to establish the Episcopal church was added to other 
preexisting causes of discord. The colony having 
been settled by emigrants from different nations, of 
different religious persuasions, the indiscreet endea- 
vour to produce uniformity, could not fail to increase 
their irritation. The influence of the governor in the 
legislature obtained the passage of such acts as were 

* History of South Carolinaf 

Dd 



SIO HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VH- neirfissary for his purpose ; but many petitions against 
them were laid before parliament ; and the house of 
lords presented so decisive an address to her majesty 
on the subject, that a writ of quo warranto against the 
charter was directed. This measure, however, was 
not put in execution ; and the attention of the colo- 
nists was diverted, for a lime, from .these intestine 
broils, by the appearance of dane;er from abroad. 
1704. Spain claimed the whole country, as part of Florida; 
and was prep^tring an expedition to enforce this claim. 
Governor Johnson, who had acquired some military 
skill in European service, having received intelligence 
of these preparations, made great exertions to fortify 
the entrance into the harbour of Charleston, and to 
put the province in a state of defence. 

There was reason to rejoice that these precautions 
were used ; for, although no armament arrived from 
Europe, yet an expedition planned in the Havanna, 
was carried into execution. 
Colony in- A French frigate and four armed Spanish sloops, 
commanded by Monsieur Le Febour, sailed for 
Charleston, with orders to touch at St. Augustine for 
men. His force is said to have amounted to about 
eight hundred. A government cruizer descried this 
squadron off the bar of St. Augustine, and brought 
the intelligence to Charleston. Scarcely had the cap- 
tain delivered his information, when signals from Sul- 
livan's island announced its appearance off the coast. 
The alarm was immediately given, and the militia of 
the town were under arms. In the evening the fleet 



vaded. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 211 

reached Ch-irlesron bar, bat deferred attempting toi^IiiL-III- 
pass it until the morninj^. 

After consuniing a day in sounding; the south bar, 
the Spanish flotilla crossed it, and anchc^red above 
Sullivan's island. The governor then directed some 
pieces of heavy artillery to be placed in the vessels 
in the harbour ; and gave the command of them to 
William Rhet. A summons to surrender being re- 
jected, a party of the enemy landed on James' island, 
and burnt a few houses. Another party, consisting 
of one hundred and sixty men, landed, about the same 
time, on the opposite side of the river. Both these 
were attacked and defeated. 

Encouraged by this success, J< .bison determined to 
attack the invaders by sea. In execution of this de- 
termination, Rhet, with six small vessels, proceeded 
down the river to the place where the hostile flotilla 
rode at anchor which, at his approach, precipitately 
re-crossed the bar. For some days it was believed 
that the enterprise vvas abandoned ; but while the in- 
habitants were rejoicing at their deliverance, advice 
was received that a ship of force had been seen in 
Sewee bay, and had landed a nmiber of men. On 
examining his prisoners, the governor was informed 
that the enemy had expected a ship of war with a re- 
inforcement of two hundred men, under the command 
of Monsieur Arbuset. Taking his measures with 
the promptness of an experienced oflicer, he ordered 
captain Fenwick to pass the river, and march against 
the detachment which had landed ; while Rhet, with 



SIS HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP VTi . tvi'o small armed vessels, sailed round by sea, with 
orders to meet the ship in Sewee bay. Fenwick 
came up with the party on shore, charged them 
briskly, and drove them to their ship, which, on the 
appearance of Rhet, surrendered without firing a shot. 
The prize, with about ninety prisoners was brought 
up to Charleston. 

Thus was terminated with the loss of near three 
hundred men killed and prisoners, among the latter of 
whom were the general and some naval officers, the 
invasion of Carolina by Monsieur Le Febour. It 
seems to have been undertaken in the confidence that 
the colony was too weak for resistance; and was con- 
ducted without skill or courage. 
Bills or cte- To defray the expenses incurred in repelling this 
invasion, bills of credit to the amount of eight thou- 
sand pounds were issued. The effect of this emis- 
sion was such a depreciation of the currency under the 
form of a rise in the price of commodities and of ex- 
change, that one hundred and fifty pounds in paper, 
were given for one hundred pounds sterling. 
1707. Lord Granville, the palatine, a bigoted churchman, 
under whose influence violent measures had been 
taken for the establishment of religious conformity in 
Carolina, died in the year 1707. He was succeeded 
by lord Craven, who, though of the same religious 
tenets, supported them with moderation. His dis- 
position to indulge, and thereby mollify, the dissen- 
ters, was considered by the zealots of the established 
church, as endangering religion ; and the legislature, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 213 

which was elected under the influence of the late pa- ^ ^^^; ^ ^ 
latine, and of his governor, dreadin^j a change in the 
administration, adopted the extraordinary measure of 
continuino; itself " for two years, and for the time and I'os. 

p • 1 I p 1 1 r Legislature 

term oi eighteen months alter the change oi govern- cominues 
ment, whether by the death of the present governor, 
or the succession of another in his time."* Thus 
adding one other humiliating proof to those which 
perpetually occur, that principles are deplorably weak, 
when opposed by the passions. 

In the year 1712, the Indians in North Carolina, ^''t^. 
alarmed, as their countrymen had been in the other 
colonies, by the encreasing population and regular ^i''S'''"''"«'° 
encroachments of the whites, formed with their ac- roi.n. by the 

, IIP ... luclians. 

customed secrecy, the plan oi exterminating in one 
night these formidable neighbours. No indication of 
their design was given until they broke into the houses 
of the planters. The slaughter on Roanoke was im- 
mense. In that settlement alone, one hundred and 
thirty-seven persons were murdered. A few escaped 
by concealing themselves in the u^oods, who, the 
next day, gave the alarm. The remaining whites 
were collected together in a place of safety, and 
guarded by the militia until assistance could be re- 
ceived from South Carolina. 

This was prompt and effectual. The assembly 
at Charleston voted four thousand pounds for the ser- 
vice ; and colonel Barnwell was detached with six 
hundred militia, and three hundred and sixty Indians, 

• Chalmer. 



^14 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.vn to the relief of the afflicted North Carolinians. With 
the utmost celerity he passed through the difficult 
and dangerous wilderness which then separated the 
northern from the southern settlements ; and, attack- 

indians de- jng the savages with unexpected fury, killed three 
hundred of them, and made one hundred prisoners. 
The survivors retreated to the Tuscorora town, and 
took refuge within a wooden breast-work, in which 
they u ere surrounded by the whites. After sustain- 
ing considerable loss, they sued for peace and obtain- 
ed it ; but soon afterwards abandoned their countrj', 
and united themselves with the Iroquois, or Five 
nations. 

The expense of this expedition greatly transcended 
the scanty means of South Carolina. To supply the 
exigencies of government, and to promote the conve- 
nience of commerce, the legislature determined to 
issue forty-eight thousand pounds in bills of credit, to 
be denominated bank bills. This money was to be 
lent out, at interest, on security, and to be redeemed 
gradually by the annual payment of one-twelfth part 
of the sum loaned. The bills were made a legal ten- 
der ; and the creditor who should refuse them, lost 
his debt. 

After the emission of these bills, exchange rose, 
the first year, to one hundred and fifty, and in the 
second to two hundred per centum, above par. The 
effect of this depreciation, and of the tender laws 
which accompanied it, on creditors, and on morals, 
was obvious and certain. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 215 

CHAP. VIII 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Proceedings of the legislature of Massachusetts. — 
Intrigues of the French among the Indians, — fVar 
•with the savages. — Peace. — Controversy with the 
governor. — Decided in England. — Contests con- 
cerning the governor's salary. — The asseinbly ad- 
journed to Salem. — Contest concerning the salary 
terminated. — Great depreciation of the paper cur- 
rency. — Scheme of a land hank. — Company dissolv- 
ed by act of Parliament. — Governor Shirley ar- 
rives. — Review of transactions in New York, 

The heavy expenses of Massachusetts durinp^ the i^ii. 
late war had produced such large emissions of paper 
money, that a considerable depreciation took place, 
and specie disappeared. The coifcequent rise of ex- 
change, instead of being attributed to its true cause, 
was ascribed to the decay of trade. 

The colony, having now leisure for its domestic 
concerns, turned its attention to this interesting 
subject. 

Three parties were formed. The first, a small Affairs ot 
one, actuated by the principle that " honesty is the seits/'' 
best policy," was in favour of calling in the paper 
money, and relying on the industry of the people, to 
replace it with a circulating medium of greater sta- 
bility. 



S16 HISTORY OP THE 



CHAP. VIII The second proposed a private bank, which was 
to issue bills of credit, to be received by all the mem- 
bers of the company, but at no certain value com- 
pared with gold and silver. It was not intended to 
deposit specie in the bank for the redemption of its 
notes as they might be offered ; but to pledge real 
estates as security that the company would perform 
its engagements. 

The third party was in favour of a loan of bills 
from the government, to any of the inhabitants who 
would mortgage real estate to secure their re-payment 
in a specified term of years ; the interest to be paid 
annually, and applied to the support of government. 

The first party, perceiving its numerical weakness, 
joined the third; and the whole province was divided 
between a public and private bank. 

At length, the party for the public bank prevailed 
in the general court, and fifty thousand pounds were 
issued and placed in the hands of trustees ; to be lent 
for five years, at an interest of five per centum per 
annum, one-fifth part of the principal to be paid an- 
nually. 

This scheme failing to improve the commerce of 
the colony, governor Shute, who had succeeded 
1716. Dudley, reminded the assembly of the bad state of 
trade, which he ascribed to the scarcity of money; 
and recommended the consideration of some effectual 
measures to supply this want. The result of this re- 
commendation was a second loan of one hundred 
thousand pounds for ten years, to be placed in the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^17 

iiands of commissioners in each county, in proper- chap_vtii 
(.ion to its taxes. The whole currency soon depre- 
ciated to such a degree, that the entire sum in circu- 
lation did not represent more real value, than was 
represented by that which was circulating before the 
emission. The governor- had now sufficient leisure, 
and the general court furnished him with sufficient 
motives, to reflect on the policy he had recommend- 
ed. An attempt to raise his salary as money depre- 
ciated, did not succeed, and only the usual nominal 
sum was voted for his support. 

In Massachusetts, peace abroad was the signal for 17I9. 
dissention at home. Independent in her opinions and 
habits, she had been accustomed to consider herself 
rather as a sister kingdom, acknowledging one com- 
mon sovereign with England, than as a colony. The 
election of all the branches of the legislature, a princi- 
ple common to New England, contributed, especial- 
ly while the mother country was occupied with her 
own internal divisions, to nourish these opinions and 
habits. Although the new charter of Massachusetts 
modified the independence of that colony, by vesting 
the appointment of the governor in the crown, yet the 
course of thinking which had prevailed from the set- 
tlement of the country, had gained too much strength 
to be immediately changed ; and Massachusetts 
sought, by private influence over her chief magistrate, 
to compensajte herself for the loss of his appointment. 
With this view, it had become usual for the general 
court to testify its satisfaction with his conduct by 
E e 



M8 HISTORY OF THE 

c AP vnt prptipnts ; and this measure was also adopted in other 
colonies. 

Apprehendiiii^ that this practice might dispose the 
governors to conciliate the leg;isU»tures at the expense 
of their duty to the crown, the Queen had given pe- 
remptory orders to receive no more gifts ; and to ob- 
tain acts fixing their salaries permanently at a sum 
named by herself. The mandate respecting presents 
was, of course, obeyed ; and some of the colonies 
complied with the requisition respecting the salary ; 
but in Massachusetts and New York, it was steadily 
resisted. 

A controling power over salaries was a source of 
influence which was pertinaciously maintained ; and 
its efficay was tried in all the conflicts between Mas- 
sachusetts and her Governor. Almost every impor- 
tant measure brought before the legislature, was pro- 
ductive of contests between these departments. They 
disagreed, not only on the policy of particular acts, 
1720. but on the limits of their power. The Governor 
claimed the right of negativing the speaker chosen 
by the representatives, which was denied by them ; 
and, each party persisting in its pretensions, the as- 

' se-^)bly was dissolved, and nevv elections took place. 

The same members being generally re chosen, the 
house of representatives assembled with increased 
irritation, and passed some angry resolutions respect- 
ing its dissolution. The governor, in turn, charged 
the house with encroachments on the pov\er of the 
executive ; among other instances of which, he men- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S19 

tioned certain resolutions passed on the commence- CH\p.vrii 
ment of hostilities by the Indians, which were deem- 
ed equivalent to a declaration of war, and had there- 
fore been rejected. 

Disagreements were multiplied between them. 
Paper money and trade were inexhaustible sources 
of discontent. New elections produced no change 1721. 
of temper. After war was formally declared against 
the Indians, the house endeavoured to exercise exe- 
cutive powers in its prosecution ; and, the council not 
concurring with them, the representatives attempted, 
in one instance, to act alone. 

The measures recommended by the governor to 
successive assemblies, were disregarded ; irritiiting 
resolves were adopted and reiterated ; and a course of 
angry crimination and recriminati(*n took place be- 
tween them in the progress of which the governor's 
salary was reduced in its nominal as well as real 
amount ; and the sum granted, instead of being voted, 
as had been usual, at the commencement of the ses- 
sion, was reserved to us close. 

In the midst of these contests, governor Shute, 1722. 
who had privately solicited and obtained leave to re- 
turn to England, suddenly embarked on board the 
Sea Horse man of war, leaving the controversy con- 
cerning the extent of the executive power, to devolve 
on the lieutenant governor.* 

The house of representatives persisted in asserting 
its control over objects which had been deemed with- 

• Hutchison. 



2S0 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. viTijp ^\^Q province of the executive ; but its resolutions 

1722. * 

were generally negatived by the council. This pro- 
duced some altercation between the two branches of 
the legislature ; but they at length united in the pas- 
sage of a resolution desiring their agent in England 
to take the best measures for protecting the interests 
of the colony, which were believed to be in danger 
from the representations of governor Shute. 
Intrigues of DuHng thesc coutcsts in the interior, the frontiers 
with the In- had suffered severely from the depredations of the 
Indians. The French had acquired great influence 
over all the eastern tribes. Jesuit missionaries gene- 
rally resided among them, who obtained a great as- 
cendancy in their councils. After the cession of 
Nova Scotia to Great Britain, father Rahle, a mis- 
sionary residing among the savages of that province 
exerted successfully, all his address to excite their 
jealousies and resentments against the English. By 
his acts, and those of other missionaries, all the eas- 
tern Indians, as well as those of Canada, were com- 
bined against New England. They raade incur- 
sions into Massachusetts, in consequence of which, 
some troops were detached to the village in which 
Rahl6 resided, for the purpose of seizing his person. 
He received intimation of their approach in time to 
make his escape ; but they secured his papers, among 
which were some showing that in exciting the savages 
to war against the English colonists, he had acted un- 
der the authority of the governor of Canada, who had 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 22i 

secretly promised to supply them with arms and am- ^hap. yiir 
muiHiioii. 

Envoys were deputed with a remonstrance against i'^c 
conduct so incompatible with the state of peace then 
subsisting between France and England. The go^ er- 
nor received this embassy politely, and, at first, de- 
nied any interference in the quarrel, alleging that the 
Indians w ere independent nations who made war and 
peace without being controled by him. On being 
shown his letters to Rahi6, he changed his language, 
and gave assurances of his future good offices in ef- 
fecting a peace. On the faith of these assurances, 
conferences were held with some Indian chiefs then 
in Canada ; several captives were ransomed ; and, 
soon after the return of the commissioners to New 
England, the war was terminated by a treaty of peace Peace, 
signed at Boston.* 

Meanwhile the complaints of governor Shute Decision 

^ , , p . ^ t . . ag'»insi the 

agamst the house or representatives were heard miiouseon 
England. Every question was decided against the versy "with* 
house. In most of them, the existing charter wasno^r5°*^^' 
deemed sufficiently explicit ; but, on two points, it 
was thought advisable to have explanatory articles. 
These were, the right of the governor to negative the 
appointment of the speaker, and the right of the house 
on the subject of adjournment. An explanatory charter ^^^ Char- 
therefore passed the seals, affirming the power claim- 
ed by the governor to negative a speaker, and deny- 
ing to the house of representatives the right of ad- 

• Hutchison. Belknap. 



HISTORY OP THE 



CHAP vm journing itself for a longer time than two days. This 



1726 



charter was submitted to the general court, to be ac- 
cepted or refused ; but it was accompanied with the 
♦ intimation that, in the event of its being; refused, the 
whole controversy between the governor and house of 
representatives would be laid before Parliament. The 
conduct of the representatives had been so generally 
condemned in England, as to excite fears that an act 
to vacate the charter, v\ould be the consequence of a 
parliamentary inquiry. The temper of the house too 
had undergone a change. The violence and irrita- 
tion which marked its proceedings in the contest with 
governor Shute had subsided ; and a majority deter- 
mined to accept the New charter. 

The trade of the province still languished, and 
complaints of the scarcity of money were as h^ud as 
1727. when only specie was in circulation. To remedy 
these evils, a bill for emitting a farther sum in paper 
passed both houses, but was rejected by the lieuten- 
ant governor, as being inconsistent with his instruc- 
tions. The house of representatives, thereupon, post- 
poned the consideration of salaries till the next ses- 
sion. The assembly was then adjourned at its own 
request, and, after a recess of a fortnight, was /again 
convened. As an expedient to elude the instructions 
to the governor which interdicted his assent to any 
act for issuing bills of credit, except for charges of 
government, a bill passed with the title of ** an act for 
raising and settling a public revenue for and to"> ards 
defraying the necessary charges of government, by 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^ S33 

\P.VIIF 



•■27. 



an emission of sijctv thousand pounds in bills of£ILiI 
credit." This bill providing for the payment of the 
salaries to which several members of the council were 
entitled, passed that house also ; and the lieuten- 
ant governor gave a reluctant assent to it. Its pas- 
sage into a law furnishes strong evidence of the in- 
fluence which the control over salaries gave to the 
house of representatives. 

Mr. Burnet \\ ho had been appointed governor of i^^^s. 
Massachusetts and New Hampshire, was received 
with great pomp in Boston. At the first^meetingof the 
assembly, he stated the King's instructions to insist on 
an established salary, and his intention firmly to ad- 
here to them. The assembly was not less firm in 
its determination to resist this demand ; and, that no 
additional and unnecessary obloquy might be encoun- 
tered, resolved, not to mingle any difference concern- 
ing the amount of the salary, with the great question 
of its depending on the will of the legislature. AsConiestre- 
soon therefore as the compliments usual on the arri- salary"'' 
val of a governor had passed, the house voted one 
thousand seven hundred pounds towards his support, 
and to defray the charges of his journey. This vote 
was understood to give him, as a present salary, a 
sum equal to one thousand pounds sterling per an- 
num. The governor declared his inability to assent 
to this bill, it being inconsistent vvith his instructions. 
After a week's deliberation, the assembly granted 
three hundred pounds for the expenses of his jf)urney, 
which he accepted ; and, in a distinct vote, the fiirther 



224! HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.VTiiRnm of one thousand four hundred pounds was grant- 
ed toward his support. The latter vote was accom- 
panied with a joint message from both houses, where- 
in they asserted their undoubted right as EngUshmen, 
and their privilege by the charter, to raise and apply 
money for the support of government ; and their wil- 
lingness to give the governor an ample and honourable 
support ; but they apprehended it would be most for 
his majesty's service to do so without establishing a 
fixed salary. The governor returned an answer on 
the same day^ jn which he said, that, if they really in- 
tended to give him an ample and honourable support, 
they could have no just objection to making their 
purpose effectual by fixing his salary ; for he w^ould 
never accept a grant of the kind then offered. 

The council was disposed to avoid the contest, and 
to grant a salary to the present governor for a certain 
time ; but the house of representatives, remaining 
firm to its purpose, sent a message to the governor 
requesting that the court might rise. He answered, 
that a compliance with this request would put it out 
of the power of the legislature to pay immediate re- 
gard to the Kiutj's instructions ; and he would not 
grant a recess, until the business of the session should 
be finished. The representatives then declared that, 
" in faithfulness to the people, they could not come 
into an act for establishing a salary on the governor or 
commander in chief for the time being," and, there- 
fore, renewed their request that the court might rise. 

Both the governor and the house of representatives 



AMERICAN COLONIES. » 225 

seem, thus far, to have made their declarations with chap vrii 

. . . . iJ'^s. 

some reserve. A salary during his own administra- 
tion might, perhaps, have satisfied him, thousfh he 
demanded that one should be setdcd, generallv , on 
the commander in chief for the time being ; and the 
house had not yet declared against settling a salary on 
him for a limited time. Each desired that the other 
should make some concession. Both declined ; both 
were irritated by long altercation ; and, at length, in- 
stead of mutually advancing, fixed at the opposite 
extremes. After several ineffectual efforts on each 
side, the representatives sent a message to the gover- 
nor, stating at large the motives which induced the 
resolution they had formed. The governor returned 
a prompt answer, in which he also detailed the rea- 
sons in support of the demand he had made. These 
two papers, manifesting the prinrij:)les and obj-cts of 
both parties, deserve attention even at this i)eriod. 

The house, not long after receiving this message, 
far from making any advances towards a compliance 
with his request, came to two resolutions strongly ex- 
pressive of its determination not to recede from the 
ground which had been taken. 

These resolutions gave the first indication, on the 
part of the representatives, of a fixed purpose to make 
no advance towards a compromise. They induced 
the governor to remind the court of the danger to 
which the proceedings of that body might expose the 
charter. This caution did not deter the house from 
preparing, and transmitting to the several towns of 
Ff 



22Q HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP.vm thfi province a statement of the controversy, which 
conchides with saying " we dare neither come into a 
fixed salary on the governor for ever, nor for a limited 
time, for the following reasons : 

First, Because it is an untrodden path which neither 
we, nor out predecessors have gone in, and we can- 
not certainly foresee the many dangers that may be 
in it, nor can we depart from that way which has been 
found safe and comfortable. 

Secondly, Because it is the undoubted right of all 
Englishmen, by magjja charta, to raise and dispose 
of money for the public service, of their own free ac- 
cord, without compulsion. 

Thirdly, Because it must necessarily lessen the 
dignity and freedom of the house of representatives, 
in making acts, and raising and applying taxes, &c. 
and, consequently, cannot be thought a proper method 
to preserve that balance in the three branches of the 
legislature, which seems necessary to form, maintain, 
and uphold, the constitution. 

Fourthly, Because the charter fully empowers the 
general assembly to make such laws and orders as 
they shall judge for the good and welfare of the inha- 
bitants ; and if they, or any part of them, judge this 
not to be for their good, they neither ought nor could 
come into it, for, as to act beyond or without the 
powers granted in the charter might justly incur the 
King's displeasure, so not to act up and agreeable to 
those powers, might justly be deemed a betraying of 
the rights and privileges therein granted ; and if they 



AMERICAN COLONIESs 3^7 

should give up this right, they would open a door tn ch ap, via 
many other inconveniences." 

Many messages passed in quick succession be- 
tween the governor and the house, in the course of 
which the arguments stated in the papers which have 
been mentioned, were enlarged and diversified. At 
length, the house repeated its request for an adjourn- 
ment ; but the governor replied that " unless his ma- 
jesty's pleasure had due weight with them, their de- 
sires would have very little witii him." 

The council now interposed with a resolution de- 
claring " that it is expedient for the court to ascertain 
a sum as a salary for his excellency's support, as also 
the term of time for its continuance." This resolu- 
tion was transmitted to the house of representatives, 
and immediately rejected. 

After much controversy, a small seeming advance 
towards an accommodation was made. Instead of vot- 
ing a salary, as had been usual, for half a year, a grant 
was made to the governor of three thousand pounds, 
equal to one thousand pounds sterling, to enable him 
to manage the affairs of the province. This was 
generally understood to be a salary for a year. The 
governor having withheld his assent from this vote, 
the house intreated him to accept the grant ; and ad- 
ded *' we cannot doubt but that succeeding assem- 
blies, according to the ability of the province, will be 
very ready to grant as ample a support ; and if they 
should not, your excellency will then have an oppor- 
tunity of showing your resentment." The governor 



5^28 histoHy of the 

CHAP, vin hnwpvpr persisted to withhold his assent iVom tht; 

1728. ^ 

vote. 

The colony generall}'', and especially Boston, was 
opposed to a co-.>jpliance with the instructions of the 
crown. At a general meeting of the inhabitants, the 
toun passed a vote, purporting to be unanimous 
against fixing a salary on the governor. In conse- 
quence of this vote, and of an opinion that the mem- 
bers of the house were influenced by the inhabitants 
of the town, the governor determined to change the; 
place at which the court should hold its session ; and 
^wT^the ^" ^^^^ '^^^^ ^^ October, adjourned it to the 30ih then 
*is.-nibiy to to meet at Salem, in the county of Essex. 

Change of place did not change the temper of the 
house. This was not, as in the contests with gover- 
nor Shute, an angry altercation, into which the repre- 
sentatives were precipitated by a restless and en- 
croaching temper, but a solemn and deliberate stand, 
made in defence of a right believed to be unquestion- 
able, and of a principle deemed essential to the wel- 
fare of the colonv. The srround taken was consider- 
ed well, and maintained with firmness. Votes and 
messages of the same tenor with those which had 
been often repeated, continued to pass between the 
representatives and the governor, until the subject 
was entirely exhausted. Each party being determin- 
ed to adhere to its principles, the house met and ad- 
journed daily, without entering on business. 

In the mean time, the governor received no salary. 
To the members of Boston, who had not been accus- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. SS9 

tomed to the expense of attending the legislature at a - "^,J^' ^'"^ 
■distant place, a compensation, above their ordinary 
wages, was made by that town. 

The house, firmly persuaded of the propriety of 
its conduct, prepared a memorial to the King praying 
a change in the royal instructions to the governor. 
Agents were appointed to represent the general court 
in England, and a vote was passed for defraying the 
expenses attendant on the business. The council re- 
fused to concur in this vote, because the agents had 
been appointed by the house of representatives singly; 
and the measure must have been abandoned for want 
of money, had not the inhabitants of Boston raised the 
sum required, by subscription. 

Letters were soon received from these agents, in- 1729, 
closing a report from the board of trade, before whom 
they had been heard by council, entirely disapproving 
the conduct of the house. The letters also indicated 
that, should the house persist in its refusal to comply 
with the King's instructions, the affair might be car- 
ried before parliament. But, should even this hap- 
pen, the agents thought it more advisable that the sa- 
lary should be fixed by the supreme legislature, than 
by that of the province- " It was better," they said, 
*' that the liberties of the people should be taken from 
them, than given up by themselves." 

The governor, at length, refused to sign a warrant 
on the treasury for the wages of the members. 
" One branch of the legislature, he said, might as 
weH go without their pay as the other.'' The act, 



S30 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. VIII anri t^g reason for it, were alike unsatisfactory to tha 

1729. ' •' 

house. 

After a recess from the 20th of December to the 
2cl of April, the general court met again at Salem. 
Repeated meetings at that place having produced no 
accommodation, the governor adjourned the legis- 
lature to Cambridge. A few days after the corn- 
Death of mencement of the session, he was seized with a fever, 

governor 

Burnet, of vvhich he died. 

Mr. Burnet is said to have possessed many valua- 
ble qualities ; and, had he not been engaged, by a 
sense of duty, in this long contest, he would, in all 
probability, have been a favourite of the province.* 

. ™- ^ Mr. Belcher, who succeeded Burnet, arrived at 

Arrival ot ' ' ^ 

governor Bostou cady in August where he was cordially re- 
ceived. At the first meeting of the general court, he 
pressed the establishment of a permanent salary, and 
laid before them his instructions, in which it was de- 
clared that, in the event of the continued refusal of 
the assembly, " his majesty will find himself under 
the necessity of laying the undutiful behaviour of the 
province before the legislature of Great Britain, not 
only in this single instance, but in many others of the 
same nature and tendency, whereby it manifestly ap- 
pears that this assembly, for some years last past, 
have attempted, by unwarrantable practices, to 
weaken, if not cast off, the obedience they owe to 
the crown, and the dependence which all colonies 
ought to have on the mother country." 

* Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S31 



CHAP. VIII 



At the close" of these instructions, his majesty ad- 

ded his expectation, " that they do forthwith comply 
with this proposal, as the last signification of our royal 
pleasure to them on this subject, and if the said as- 
sembly shall not think fit to comply therewith, it is 
our will and pleasure, and you are required, immedi- 
ately, to come over to this kingdom of Great Britain, 
in order to give us an exact account of all that shall 
have passed on this subject, that we may lay the 
same before our parliament." 

The house proceeded, as in the case of governor 
Burnet, to make a grant to Mr. Belcher of one thou- 
sand pounds currency for defraying the expense of 
his voyage, and as a gratuity for his services while 
the agent of the colony in England ; and, some time 
after, voted a sum equal to one thousand pounds ster- 
ling to enable him to manage the public affairs, &c. ; 
but fixed no time for which the allowance was made. 
The council concurred in this vote, adding an amend- 
ment " and that the same sum be annually allowed 
for the governor's support.^' The house not agree- 
ing to this amendment, the council carried it so as to 
read " that the same sum should be annually paid 
during his excellency's continuance in the govern- 
ment, and residence here." This also was disagreed 
to and the resolution fell. 

The small-pox being in the town of Cambridge, 
the assembly was adjourned to Roxbury. 

Two or three sessions passed with litde more, on 
the part of the governor, than a repetition of his de- 



2S2 fli STORY OF THE 

cHAP^vm fflantj for a fixed salary, and an intimation that 
he should be obliged to return to England, and 
state the conduct of the house of representatives to 
the King. Some unsuccessful attempts were made 
by his friends to pass a bill fixing the salary during 
his administration, with a protest against the princi- 
ple, and against that bill's being drawn into prece- 
dent. Failing in this expedient, and finding the house 
inflexible, he despaired of succeeding with that body, 
and turned his attention to the relaxation of his in- 
1731. structions. He advised an address from the house to 
his majesty, praying that he might be permitted to 
receive the sum which the legislature had offered to 
grant him. This was allowed by the crown ; with 
the understanding that he was still to insist on a com- 
pliance with his instructions. Leave to accept par- 
ticular grants was obtained for two or three years 
successively ; and, at length, a general permission 
was conceded to accept such sums as might be given 

;e™ta.bytheassemblv.» 

Thus was terminated, the stubborn contest concern 
ing a permanent salary for the governor. Its circum- 
stances have been given more in detail than consists 
with the general plan of this work, because it is con- 
sidered as exhibiting, in genuine colours, the charac- 
ter of the people engaged in it. It is regarded as an 
early and an honourable display of the same perse- 
vering temper in defence of principle, of the same 
unconquerable spirit of liberty, which at a later day., 

• Hutchison. 



Contest 
concernin 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S33 



CHAP. VU l 
1731. 



and on a more important question, tore the British 
colonics from a country to which they had been 
strongly attached. 

The immense quantity of depreciated paper which ^'^' 
was in circulation throughout New England, had no 
tendency to diminish the complaints of the scarcity of 
money. Massachusetts and New Hampshire were 
restrained from farther emissions by the instructions 
to their governors, who received their appointments 
from the crown. Connecticut, engaged chiefly in 
agricultural pursuits, suffered less from this deprecia- 
ted medium than her neighbours, and was less dis- 
posed to increase its evils. Rhode Island, equally 
commercial with Massachusetts, and equally fond of 
paper, chose her own governor, and might therefore 
indulge, without restraint, her passion for a system 
alike unfavourable to morals and to industry. That 
colony now issued one hundred thousand pounds on 
loan, to its inhabitants, for twenty years. The mer- 
chants of Boston, apprehensive that this capital would 
transfer the stock of Massachusetts to Rhode Island, 
associated against receiving the new emission ; and 
many of them formed a company which issued one 
hundred and ten thousand pounds, redeemable with 
specie, in ten years, a tenth part annually, at the then 
current value of paper. The association against re- 
ceiving the new emission of Rhode Island was not 
long observed ; and the bills of New Hampshire and 
Connecticut uere also current. Silver immediately 
rose to twenty-seven shillings the ounce, and the notes 
Gg 



S34j history of the 

CHAP^vni issued by the merchants soon disappeared, leaving in 
circulation only the government paper. 
1739. Great uneasiness prevailed through Massachusetts 
on this subject. The last instalment bf the bills would 
become due in 1741, and no power existed to re- 
deem them by new emissions. Serious consequences 
were apprehended from calling in the circulating me- 
dium without substituting another in its place, and 
the alarm was increased by the circumstance that the 
taxes had been so lightly apportioned on the first 
years, as to require the imposition of heavy burdens 
for the redemption of what remained in circulation. 
The discontents excited by these causes were mani- 
fested in the elections, and were directed against 
the governor, who was openly hostile to the paper 
system. 

Land bank. The projector of the bank again came forward ; 
and, placing himself at the head of seven or eight 
hundred persons, some of whom possessed property, 
proposed to form a company which should issue one 
hundred and fifty thousand pounds in bills. By this 
scheme, every borrower of a sum larger than one 
hundred pounds, was to mortgage real estate to se- 
cure its re-payment. The borrowers of smaller sums 
might secure their re- payment either by mortgage, or 
by bond with two securities. Each subscriber, or 
partner was to pay, annually, three per centum in- 
terest on the sum he should take, and five per cen- 
tum of the principal, either in the bills themselves, 
or in the produce and manufactures of the country, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S30 

at such rates as the directors should, from time to chap vm 

y 1739 

time, establish. 

Although the favourers of this project were so suc- 
cessful at the elections as to obtain a great majority in 
the general court, men of fortune, and the principal 
merchants, refused to receive these bills. Many 
small traders, however, and other persons interested in 
the circulation of a depreciated currency, gave them 
credit. The directors themselves, it was said, be- 
came traders ; and issued bills without limitation, and 
without giving security for their redemption. The 
governor, anticipating the pernicious effects of the 
institution, exerted all his influence against it. He 
displaced such executive officers as were members of 
it, and negatived the speaker, and thirteen members 
elected to the council, who were also of the company. 
General confusion being apprehended, application 
was made to parliament for an act to suppress the 
company. This being readily obtained, the company i74o. 
was dissolved, and the holders of the bills were allow- dissoWecL 
ed their action against its members, individually.* 

About this time governor Belcher was re- called, 
and Mr. Shirley was appointed to succeed him. He 
found the land bank interest predominant in the house, 
and the treasury empty. 

In this state of things, he deemed it necessary to j^^^ 
depart from the letter of his instructions, in order to 
preserve their spirit. A bill was passed declaring 
that all contracts should be understood to be payable 

* Uatchison. 



S36 HISTORY OF THE 

^H^lZlZn? in silver at six shillings and eight pence the ounce, or 
in gold at its comparative value. Bills of a new form 
were issued, purporting to be for ounces of silver, 
vhich were to be received in payment of all debts, 
with this proviso, that if they should depreciate be- 
tween the time of contract and of payment, a propor- 
tional addition should be made to the debt. 
AfTsirsoF While these transactions were passinsr in New 

New York. . . 

England, symptoms of that jealousy which an unset- 
tled boundary must produce between neighbours, 
began to show themselves in Canada and New York. 
The geographical situation of these colonies had, at 
an early period, directed the attention of both towards 
the commerce of the lakes. Mr. Burnet, the gover- 
nor both of New York and New Jersey, impressed 
with the importance of acquiring the command of 
lake Ontario, had, in the year 1722, erected a trading 
house at Oswego in the country of the Senecas. This 
measure excited the jealousy of the French, who 
launched two vessels on the lake, and transported ma- 
terials to Niagara for building a large store house, and 
for repairing the fort at that place. These proceed- 
ings were strongly opposed by the Senecas, and by 
the government of New York. Mr. Burnet remon- 
strated against them as encroachments on a British 
province, and also addressed administration on the 
subject. Complaints were made to the cabinet of 
Versailles ; but the governor of Canada proceeded to 
complete the fort. To countervail the effects of a 
measure which he could not prevent, governor Bur- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 237 

net erected a fort at Oswego ; soon after the building chap, vm 
of which, while Mr. Vandam was governor of New 
York, the French took possession of Crown Point, 
which they fortified ; and thus acquired the command 
of lake Champlain. Obviously as this measure was 
calculated to favour both the oifensive and defensive 
operations of France in America, the English minis- 
ter, after an unavailing remonstrance, submitted to it. 



S38 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IX . 

CHAPTER IX. 

War with the southern Indians.—- Dissntisjaction of 
Carolina with the proprietors. — Rupture with Spain, 
— Combination to subvert the proprietary govern' 
ment. — Revolution completed. — Expedition from the 
Havanna against Charleston. — Peace with Spain. — 
The proprietors surrender their interest to the crown. 
— The province divided. — Georgia settled. — Impoli- 
cy of the first regidations. — Intrigues of the Span- 
iards with the slaves of South Carolina. — Insurrec- 
tion of the slaves. 

1715. In Carolina, the contests between the inhabitants 
and the proprietors, added to the favour with which 
the Queen heard the complaints of the dissenters, had 
turned the attention of the people towards the crown, 
and produced a strong desire to substitute the regal, 
for the proprietary government. This desire was in- 
creased by an event which demonstrated the incom- 
petency of their government. 
War with The Yamassees, a powerful tribe of Indians on the 
north east of the Savanna, instigated by the Spaniards 
at St. Augustine, secretly prepared a general combi- 
nation of all the southern Indians, against the province. 
Having massacred the traders settled among them, 



the Indians. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 239 

they advanced in great force against the southern 9"^^^^' 
frontier, spreading desolation and slaughter on their 
route. The inhabitants were driven into Charleston ; 
and governor Craven proclaimed martial law. He 
also obtained an act of assembly empowering him to 
impress men ; to seize arras, ammunition, and stores ; 
to arm such negroes as could be trusted ; and, gene- 
rally, to prosecute the war with the utmost vigour. 
Agents were sent to Virginia and to England to so- 
licit assistance, and bills were issued for the payment 
and subsistence of the army. 

At the same time, the Indians entered the northern 
part of the province, and were within fifty miles of 
the capital. Thus surrounded by enemies, the go- 
vernor took the course which was suggested equally 
by courage and by prudence. Leaving the less ac- 
tive part of the population to find security in the forts 
at Charleston, he marched with the militia, towards 
the southern frontier, which was invaded by the 
strongest body of Indians ; and, at a place called Salt 
Catchers, attacked and totally defeated them. The 
victors pursued them into their own country, expelled 
them from it, and drove them over the Savanna river. 
The fugitives found protection in Florida, where they 
made a new settlement, from which they continued 
long afterwards, to make distressing incursions into 
Carolina. 

The agent who had been sent by the legislature to 
England to implore the protection of the proprietors, 
had received ulterior instructions, should he not sue- 



SIO HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IX. jjgg J ^jtj^ them, to apply directly to the King. Being 
dissatisfied with his reception by the proprietors, he 
petitioned the house of commons, who addressed the 
King, praying his interposition, and immediate assist- 
ance to the colony. The King referred the matter 
to the lords commissioners of trade and plantations, 
whose report was unfavourable to the application, be- 
cause the province of Carolina was a proprietary go- 
vernment. They were of opinion that, if the colony 
was to be protected at the expense of the nation, its 
government ought to be vested in the crown. On 
receiving this opinion, the proprietors, in a general 
meeting, avowed their inability to protect the province, 
and declared that, unless his majesty would gracious- 
ly please to interpose, they could foresee nothing but 
the utter destruction of his faithful subjects in those 
parts. 

A government unable to afford protection to the 
people, was ill adapted to the situation of Carolina. 

The dissatisfaction growing out of this cause was 
still farther augmented by the unpopular, and, in some 
instances, unwise acts of the proprietors. 

To relieve the distress produced by war, conside- 
rable sums of paper money had been issued ; and the 
proprietors, on the complaint of the merchants, of 
London engaged in the trade of the province, had 
given instructions to reduce the quantity in circula- 
tion. 

The assembly had appropriated the country of the 
Yamassees, to the use of such of his majesty's Eu- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



S41 



ropean subjects, as would settle it. Extracts from ^iliL_I2L 
the law on this subject being published in England, to 
and in Ireland, five hundred men from the latter king- 
dom emigrated to Carolina. The proprietors repeal- 
ed this lau ; and, to the utter ruin of the emigrants, as 
well as to the destruction of this barrier against the 
savages, ordered the lands to be surveyed, and erect- 
ed into baronies, for themselves. 

While the population was confined to the neigh- 
bourhood of Charleston, all the members of the as- 
sembly had been elected at that place. As the set- 
tlements extended, this practice became inconvenient; 
and an act was passed, declaring that every parish 
should choose a certain number of representatives, 
and that the elections should be held, in each, at the 
parish church. As if to destroy themselves in the 
province, the proprietors repealed this popular law 
also. 

Heavy expenses being still incurred for defence 
against the inroads of the southern Indians, the peo- 
ple complained loudly of the insufficiency of that 
government which, unable itself to protect them, 
prevented the interposition of the crown in their 
favour. 

In this temper, governor J ^hnson, son of the former 
governor of that name, found the province. He met 
the assembly with a conciliatory speech, and receiv- 
ed an answer expressing great satisfaction at his ap- 
pointment. His original popularity was increased by 
the courage he displayed in two expeditions against a 
H h 



24^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. IX. formidable band of pirates who had Ions: infested the 
coast, which he entirely extirpated. 

These expeditions occasioned still farther emissions 
of paper money. The governor, being instructed to 
diminish its quantity, had influence enough with the 
assembly to obtain an act for redeeming the bill? of 
credit, in three years, by a tax on lands and negroes. 
This tax falling heavily on the planters, they sought 
to elude it by obtaining an act for a farther emission 
of bitls. The proprietors, being informed of this de- 
sign, and also of an intention to make the produce 
of the country a tender in payment of all debts, at a 
fixed value, enjoined the governor not to give his 
assent to any bill, until it should be laid before them. 

About the same time, the King, by an order in 
council, signified his desire to the proprietors, that 
they would repeal an act passed in Carolina, for im- 
posing a duty of ten per centum on all goods of 
British manufacture imported into the province. The 
repeal of this act, and of one declaring the right of 
the assembly to name a receiver of the public money, 
and of the election law, were transmitted to the go- 
vernor, in a letter directing him to dissolve the as- 
sembly, and to hold a new election at Charleston, ac- 
cording to ancient usage. 
i'i8. The assembly being employed in devising means 
for raising revenue, their dissolution was deferred ; but 
the rej)eal of the law imposing duties, and the royal 
displeasure at the clause laying a duty on British 
manufactures, were immediately coinmunicated, with 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 243 



a recommendation to pass another act, omitting that ^"^^^ ^^- 
clause. 

Meanwhile the governor's instructions were di- 
vulged. They excited great irritation ; and produced 
a warm debate on the right of the proprietors to re- 
peal a law enacted with the consent of their deputy in 
the province. 

About this time, chief justice Trott, v;ho had be- 
come extremely unpopular in the colony, was charged 
with many iniquitous proceedings ; and the governor, 
the major part of the council, and the assembly, united 
in a memorial representing his mal- practices to the 
proprietors. Mr. Young was deputed their agent to i"i9. 
enforce these complaints. 

Soon after his arrival in London, he presented a 
memorial to the proprietors, detailing the proceedings 
of Carolina, and stating the objections of the assem- 
bly to the right of their lordships to repeal laws, which 
had been approved by their deputies. 

This memorial was very unfavourably received, 
and the members of the council who had subscribed 
it, were displaced. The proprietors asserted their 
right to repeal all laws passed in the province, ap- 
proved the conduct of the chief justice, censured that 
of the governor in disobeying their instructions re- 
specting the dissolution of the assembly, and repeated 
their orders on this subject. 

However the governor might disapprove the in- 
structions given him, he did not hesitate to obey 
them. The new council was sunmioned, the assem- 



War with 
Spain. 



3M HISTORY OF THE 

cvA'p. ix. h]y ^vas dissolved, and writs were issued for electing 
another at Charleston. 

The public mind had been gradually prepared for 
a revolution, and these irritating measures completed 
the disgust with which the people viewed the go- 
vernment of the proprietors. An opportunity to make 
the change so generally desired was soon afforded. 
A rupture having taken place between Great Britain 
and Spain, advice was received from England of a 
plan formed in the Havanna for the invasion of Caro- 
lina. The governor convened the council, and such 
members of the assembly as were in town, and laid 
his intelligence before them. He, at the same time, 
stated the ruinous condition of the fortifications, and 
proposed that a sum for repairing them should be 
raised, by voluntary subscription, of which he set the 
example by a liberal donation. 

The assembly declared a subscription to be unne- 
cessary, as the duties would afford an ample fund for 
the object. The repeal of the law imposing them 
was said to be utterly void, and would be disregarded. 

The members of the new assembly, though they 

had not been regularly convened at Charleston, had 

held several private meetings in the country to con- 

Combina- Q^^t measures of future resistance. They had dravvn 

tion to sub- _ . •' _ _ 

vert the yp .^u associatiou for uniting the whole province in 

ment. opposition to the proprietary government, which was 

proposed to the militia at their public meetings, and 

subscribed almost unanimously. This confederacy 

was formed with such secrecy and dispatch, that, be- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S4)5 



fore the governor was informed of it, almost every in- 
habitant of the province was engaged in it. 

The members of the assembly, thus supported by 
the people, resolved to subvert the power of the pro- 
prietors. 

The governor, who resided in the country, had no 
intimation of these secret meetings and transactions, 
until he received a letter from a committee of the re- 
presentatives of the people, offering him the govern- 
ment of the province under the King; it having been 
determined to submit no longer to that of the pro- 
prietors. 

Mr. Johnson resolved to suppress this spirit of re- 
volt, and hastened to town in order to lay the letter 
before his council. They advised him to take no no- 
tice of it, until the legislature should be regularly con- 
vened. On meeting, the assembly declared, " that 
the laws, pretended to be repealed, continued to be in 
force ; and that no power, other than the general as- 
sembly, could repeal them : That the writs under 
which they were elected were void, inasmuch as 
they had been issued by advice of an unconstitutional 
council : That the representatives cannot therefore, 
act as an assembly, but as a convention delegated by 
the people to prevent the utter ruin of the govern- 
ment : And, lastly, that the lords proprietors had un- 
hinged the frame of the government, and forfeited 
their right thereto ; and that an address be prepared to 
desire the honourable Robert Johnson, the present 
governor, to take on himself the government of the 



CHAP. IX. 



1719, 



24*6 HISTORY OF THE 

€HAP IX. province in the name of the Kinsr." The address 
— 1719 — 

was signed by Arthur Middleton, as president of the 

convention, and by twenty-two members. 

After several unavaihng efforts, on the part of the 
assembly, to induce Mr. Johnson to accept the go- 
vernment under the King ; and, on his part, to rein- 
state the government of the proprietors ; he issued a 
proclamation dissolving the asseiubly, and retired 
into the country. 

The proclamation was torn from the hands of the 
officer, and the assembly elected colonel James Moore 
chief magistrate of the colony. 
Revolution After proclaimins: him in the name of the Kinsr, 

completed. . . . . 

and electing a council, the legislature published a 
declaration stating the revolution that had taken place, 
with the causes which produced it; and then pro- 
ceeded, deliberately to manage the affairs of the 
province. 

While Carolina was effecting this revolution, the 
agent of the colony obtained a hearing before the lords 
of the regency and council in England, (the King 
being then in Hanover) who were of opinion that the 
proprietors had forfeited their charter. They order- 
ed the attorney general to take out a scire facias 
against it, and appointed Francis Nicholson provi- 
sional governor of the province under the King. He 
was received with universal joy ; and the people of 
Carolina passed, with great satisfaction, from the pro- 
prietary government to the immediate dominion of 
the crown. This revolution was completed by an 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 24r 

agreement between the crown and seven of the pro- chap, ix . 

. 1719 

prietors, whereby, for the sum of seventeen thousand The pro- 
five hundred pounds sterling, they surrendered their surrender 
right and interest both in the government and soil. Zo^n. 
This agreement was confirmed by an act of parlia- 
ment ; soon after which John Lord Carteret, the re- 
maining proprietor, also surrendered all his interest in 
the government, but retained his rights of property.* 

Carolina received with joy the same form of go- i72i, 
vernment which had been bestowed on her sister co- 
lonies. The people pleased with their situation, and 
secure of protection, turned theii attention to domes- 
tic and agricultural pursuits ; and the face of the coun- 
try soon evidenced the happy effects which result 
from contented industry, directed by those who are 
to receive its fruits. For the convenience of the in- /I'sz, 
habitants, the province was divided ; and was, thence vince di- 
forward, distinguished by the names of North and 
South Carolina.! 

About this period, the settlement of a new colony 
was planned in England. The tract of country lying 
between the rivers Savanna and Alatamaha being un- 
occupied by Europeans. A company was formed 
for the humane purpose of transplanting into diis wil- 
derness, the suffering poor of the mother country. 
This territory, now denominated Georgia, was granted 
to the company ; and a corporation, consisting of 
twenty-one persons, was created under the name of 
" trustees for settling and establishing the colony of 

» History of South Carolina, tidem. 



vided. 



Sf8 HISTORY OP THE 



CHAP TT Georgjia.'' Large sums of money were subscribed 
for transporting, and furnishing with necessaries, such 
poor people as should be willing to pass the Atlantic, 
and to seek the means of subsistence in a new world. 
One hundred and sixteen persons embarked at Graves- 
end, under the conduct of Mr. James Oglethorpe, one 
of the trustees, who, after landing at Charleston, pro- 
ceeded to the tract of country allotted for the new 
colony, and laid the foundation of the town of Savan- 

Georgia na, OH the river which bears that name. A small 

settled. ^ ' , .... ... 

fort was erected on its bank, in which some guns 
were mounted ; and a treaty was held with the Creek 
Indians, from whom the cession of a considerable tract 
was obtained. 

The trustees continued to make great efforts for 
the accomplishment of their object, and settled seve- 
ral companies of emigrants in Georgia. Unfortunate- 
ly, the wisdom of their regulations did not equal the 
humanity of their motives. Totally unacquainted 
with the country they were to govern, they devised 
a system for it, rather calculated to impede than to 
promote its population. 
1733. Considering each male inhabitant both as a soldier 
and a planter, to be provided with arms and ammu- 
nition for defence as well as with utensils for cultiva- 
tion, they adopted the pernicious resolution of intro- 
ducing such tenures for holding lands as were most 
Impolicy of favourable to a military establishment. Each tract 
guiations?' granted, was considered as a military fief, for which 
the possessor was to appear in arras, and take the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^9 



iield, when required for the public defence. THpCHapix. 
grants were in tail male ; and, on the termination of 
the estate, the lands were to revert to the trust, to be 
re- granted to such persons as would most benefit the 
colony. Any lands which should not be enclosed, 
cleared, and cultivated, within eighteen years, revert- 
ed to the trust. The importation of negroes, and of 
rum, was prohibited ; and those only were allowed 
to trade with the Indians, to whom a license should 
be given. 

However specious the arguments in support of 
these regulations might appear to the trustees, human 
ingenuity could scarcely have devised a system better 
calculated to defeat their hopes. 

The tenure of lands drove the settlers into Caro- 
lina where that property might be acquired in fee sim- 
ple. The prohibition of slavery rendered the task of 
opening the country, too heavy to be successfully un- 
dertaken in that burning climate ; and the restriction 
on their trade to the West Indies, deprived them of 
the only market for lumber, an article in which they 
abounded. 

Mr. Oglethorpe's first employment was the con- 1754- 
struction of fortifications for defence. He erected one 
fort on the Savanna, at Augusta, and another on an 
island of the Alatamaha, called Frederica, for defence 
against the Indians and the inhabitants of Florida. The 
Spaniards remonstrated against them ; and a commis- 
sioner from the Havanna insisted on the evacuation 
of the country to the thirty- third degree of north lati- 
li 



350 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.ix. tnflf^, which he claimed in the name of the Kins: of 
Spain ; but this remonstrance and claim were equally 
disregarded. 

The restrictions imposed by the trustees, on the 
inhabitants of Georgia, were too oppressive to be en- 
dured in silence. They remonstrated, particularly, 
against the tenure by which their lands were held, 
and against the prohibition of the introduction of 
slaves. These complaints, the result of experience, 
were addressed to persons ignorant of the condition 
of the petitioners, and were neglected. The colony 
languished ; while South Carolina, not unlike Georgia 
both in soil and climate, advanced with considerable 
rapidity. Although emigration was encouraged by 
paying the passage money of the emigrants, by fur- 
nishing them with clothes, arms, ammunition, and 
implements of husbandry, by maintaining their fami- 
lies for the first year, and, in some instances, by fur- 
nishing them with stock ; yet the unwise policy, 
which has been mentioned, more than counterbalanced 
these advantages ; and for ten years, during which 
time the exports from Carolina more than doubled, 
the settlers in Georgia could, with difficulty, obtain a 
scanty subsistence. 
1737. The differences between Great Britain and Spain 
not admitting of adjustment, both nations prepared for 
war. The Spaniards strengthened East Florida ; and 
the British government ordered a regiment, consist- 
ing of six hundred effective men, into Georgia. The 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 25i 

command of the troops, both of Georgia and Carolina, chap.ix. 
was given to major general Oglethorpe, who fixed his 
head quarters at Frederica. 

Before hostilities had commenced, the Spaniards 
at St. Augustine engaged in criminal intrigues among 
the blacks of Carolina. Agents had been secretly 
employed in seducing the slaves of that province to 
escape to St. Augustine, where liberty was promised 
them, and where they were formed into a regiment 
officered by themselves. Hitherto these practices 
had been attended only with the loss of property ; but, 
about this time, the evil assumed a much more alarm- 
ing form. A large number of slaves assembled atinsurrec- 
Stono, where they forced a warehouse containing slaves/**^ 
arms and ammunition, murdered the whites in pos- 
session of it, and, after choosing a captain, directed 
their march south westward, with drums beating and 
colours flying. On their march, they massacred the 
whites, seized all the arms they could find, and forced 
such blacks as did not voluntarily join them, to follow 
their party. Intoxicated with ardent spirits, and with 
their short lived success, they considered their work 
as already achieved, and halted in an open field, where 
the time which might have been employed in pro- 
moting their design, was devoted to dancing and ex- 
ultation. Fortunately, the people of the neighbour- 
hood had assembled on the same day, to attend di- 
vine service ; and, as was then directed by law, all 
the men came armed. They marched immediately 
against the blacks, whom they completely surprised. 



258 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. IX . Many were killed, and the residue dispersed or taken. 

1737. ' ' 

Thus the insurrection was suppressed on the day of 
its commencement ; and such of its leaders as sur- 
vived the battle were immediately executed. 

Durins^ the lony; repose, v\hich the pacific temper 
of the duke of Orleans, Regent of France during the 
minority of Louis XV. and the equally pacific tem- 
per of sir Robert Walpole, minister of England, gave 
to their respective countries, the British colonies in 
America had increased rapidly in population and in 
wealth. Lands were cheap, and subsistence easily 
acquired. From New York to Virginia inclusive, 
no enemy existed to restrain new settlements, and no 
fears of inability to maintain a family, checked the 
natural propensity to early marriages. The people 
were employed in cultivating the earth, and in spread- 
ing themselves over the vast regions which were 
open to them ; and, during this period, their history 
furnishes none of those remarkable events which in- 
terest posterity. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 253 

CHAP. X. 

CHAPTER. X. 

^Far declared against Spain, — Expedition againt St. 
Augustvw. — Georgia itruaded. — Spaniards land on 
a?i island in the Alatamaha. — Appearance of a 
jieet from Charleston. — Spanish army re-embarks. 
— Hostilities with France. — Expedition against 
Louisburg. — Louisburg surrenders. — Great plans 
of the belligerent powers — Misfortunes of the arma- 
ment under the duke D'Anville. — The French jieet 
dispersed by a storm. — Expedition against J^fova 
Scotia. — Treaty of Aix la Chapelle. — Paper mo- 
ney of Massachusetts redeemed. — Contests between 
the French and English respecting boundaries. — 
Statement respecting the discovery' of the Missis- 
sippi. — Scheme for connecting Louisiana with Ca- 
nada. — Relative strength of the French and Eng- 
lish coloiiies. — Defeat at the little meadows. — Con- 
vention at Albany. — Plan of union. — Objected to 
both in America and Great Britain. 

The increasing^ complaints of the merchants, and .i^'sg- 
the loud clamours of the nation, at length forced the Spain. 
minister to abandon his pacific system ; and war was 
declared against Spain. A squadron commanded by 
admiral Vernon was detached to the West Indies, 
with instructions to act offensively; and general Ogle- 
thorpe was ordered to annoy the settlements in Flo- 



254 HISTORY OF THE 

^S^^iJ^rida. He planned an expedition as:ainst St Ausfus- 
tine, and requested the assistance of South Carolina. 
That colony, ardently desiring the expulsion of 
neighbours alike feared and hated, entered zealously 
into the views of the general, and agreed to furnish 
the men and money he requested. A regiment, com- 
manded by colonel Vanderdussen, was immediately 
raised in Virginia and the two Carol inas. A body of 
Indians was also engaged, and captain Price, who 
commanded the small fleet on that station, promised 
his co-operation. These arrangements being made, 
and the mouth of St. John's river, on the coast of 
Florida, being appointed as the place of rendezvous, 
general Oglethorpe hastened to Georgia, to prepare 
his regiment for the expedition. 
1740. Those unexpected impediments, which always em- 
barass military movements conducted by men with- 
out experience, having delayed the arrival of his 
northern troops, Oglethorpe entered Florida at the 
head of his own regiment, aided by a party of Indians ; 
and invested Diego, a small fort about twenty-live 
miles from St. Augustine, which capitulated after a 
short resistance. He then returned to the place of 
rendezvous, where he was joined by colonel Vander- 
dussen, and by a company of Highlanders under the 
command of captain M'Intosh; a few days after which, 
he marched with his whole force, consisting of about 
two thousand men, to fort Moosa, in the neighbour- 
hood of St. Augustine, which was evacuated on his 
approach. The general now perceived that the enter- 



AMERICAN COLONIES^ 255 

prise would be attended with more difficulty than had chap, x. 
been anticipated. In the time which intervened be- 
tween his entering Florida and appearing before the 
town, supplies of provisions had been received from 
the country, and six Spanish half gallies carrying long 
brass nine pounders, and two sloops laden with pro- 
visions, had entered the harbour. Finding the place 
better fortified than had been expected, he determin- 
ed to invest it completely, and to advance by regular 
approaches. In execution of this plan, colonel Pal- 
mer, with ninety -five Highlanders, and forty-two In- 
dians, remained at fort Moosa, while the army took 
different positions near the town, and began an inef- 
fectual bombardment from the island of Anastasia. 
The general was deliberating on a plan for forcing 
the harbour and taking a nearer position, when colonel 
Palmer was surprised, and his detachment cut to 
pieces. At the same time some small vessels from 
the Havanna, with a reinforcement of men and sup- 
ply of provisions, entered the harbour through the 
narrow channel of the Matanzas. 

The army began to despair of success ; and the 
provincials, enfeebled by the heat, dispirited by sick- 
ness, and fatigued by fruitless efforts, marched away 
in large bodies. The navy being ill supplied with 
provisions, and the season for hurricanes approach- 
ing, captain Price was unwilling to hazard his ma- 
jesty's ships on that coast. The general, labouring 
under a fever, finding his regiment, as well as him- 
self, worn out with fatigue, and rendered unfit for 



HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. X. ar.tinn by disease; reluctantly abandoned the enter- 
prise, and returned to Frederica. 

The colonists, disappointed and cha,^rined by the 
failure of the expedition, attributed this misfortune 
entirely to the incapacity of the general, who was not 
less dissatisfied with them. Whatever may have 
been the true causes of the failure, it produced a 
mutual and injurious distrust between the general 
and the colonists.* 
i742. The events of the war soon disclosed the dangers 
resulting from this want of confidence in general 
Oglethorpe, and, still more, from the want of power 
to produce a co-operation of the common force for 
the common defence. 

Spain had ever considered the settlement of Geor- 
gia as an encroachment on her territory, and had 
cherished the intention to seize every proper occasion 
to dislodge the English by force. With this view, 
an armament consisting of two thousand men, com- 
manded by Don Antonio di Ridondo, embarked at 
the Havanna, under convoy of a strong squadron, and 
arrived at St. Augustine in May. The fleet having 
been seen on its passage, notice of its approach was 
given to general Oglethorpe, who communicated the 
intelligence to governor Glenn of South Carolina, and 

• In the same year Charleston was reduced to ashes. A large portion of its 
inhabitants passed, in one day, from prosperity to indigence. Under the pres- 
sure of this misfortune, the legisluluri' applied to parliament for aid ; and that 
body, with a liberality reflecting honour on its members, voted tweoty thousand 
pounds^ to be distributed among the sufferers. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 257 

ur^ed the necessity of sending the troops of that pro- ^^^^:, ^ 
vince to his assistance. 

Georgia beini^ a barrier for South Carolina, the 
policy of meetinaj an invadinp^ army on the frontiers of 
the former, especially one containing several com- 
panies composed of negroes uho had fled from the 
latter, was too obvious not to be perceived: yet either 
from prejudice against Oglethorpe, or the disposition 
inherent in separate governments to preserve their 
own force for their own defence, Carolina refused to 
give that general any assistance. Its attention was 
directed entirely to the defence of Charleston ; and the 
inhabitants of its southern frontier, instead of march- 
ing to the camp of Oglethorpe, fled to that city for 
safety. In the mean time, the general collected a few 
Highlanders, and rangers of Gef>rgia, together with as 
many Indian warriors as would join him, and deter- 
mined to defend Frederica. 

Late in June, the Spanish fleet, consisting of thirty- Georgia iu- 
two sail, carrying above three thousand men, crossed 
Simon's bar into Jekyl sound, and passing Simon's 
fort, then occupied by general Oglethorpe, procceed- 
ed up the Alatamaha, out of the reach of his guns; 
after which, the troops landed on the island, and erect- 
ed a battery of twenty eighteen pounders. 

Fort Simon's being indefensible, Oglethorpe re- 
tre?»ted to Frederica. His whole force, exclusive of In- 
dians, amounted to little more than seven hundred men, 
a force which could only enable him to act on the de- 
fenbive until the arrival of re-inforcements which he 
Kk 



S58 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. X. stjn expected from South Carolina. The face of the 

1742. 

country was pecuharly favourable to this system of 
operations. Its thick woods and deep morasses op- 
posed great obstacles to the advance of an invading 
enemy, not well acquainted with the paths which 
passed through them. Oglethorpe turned these ad- 
vantages to the best account. In an attempt made 
by the Spanish general to pierce these woods in order 
to reach Frederica, several sharp rencounters took 
place ; in one of which he lost a captain and two lieu- 
tenants killed, and above one hundred privates taken 
prisoners. He then changed his plan of operations ; 
and, abandoning his intention of forcing his way to 
Frederica by land, called in his parties, kept his men 
under cover of his cannon, and detached some vessels 
up the river, with a body of troops on board, to re- 
connoitre the fort, and draw the attention of the Eng- 
lish to that quarter. 

About this time, an English prisoner escaped from 
the Spaniards, and informed general Oglethorpe that 
a difference existed between the troops from Cuba, 
and those from St. Augustine, which had been car- 
ried so far that they encamped in separate places. 
This intelligence suggested the idea of attacking 
them while divided; and his perfect knowledge of 
the woods favoured the hope of surprising one of 
their encampments. In execution of this design, he 
drew out the flower of his army, and marched in the 
night, unobserved, within two miles of the Spanish 
camp. There, his troops halted, and he advanced, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 259 

himself, at the head of a select corns, to reconnoitre ch^v. x. 
the situation of the enemy. While he was using the 
utmost circumspection to obtain the necessary infor- 
mation without being discovered, a French soldier of 
his party dischargjed his musket, and ran into the 
Spanish lines. Discovery defeating every hope of 
success, the general retreated to Frederica. 

Oglethorpe, confident that the deserter would dis- 
close his weakness, devised an expedient which turn- 
ed the event to advantage. He wrote to the deserter 
as if in concert with him, directing him to give the 
Spanish general such information as might induce 
him to attack Frederica ; hinting also at an attempt 
meditated by admiral Vernon on St. Augustine, and 
at late advices from Carolina, giving assurances of a 
re-inforcement of two thousand men. He then tam- 
pered with one of the Spanish prisoners, who, for a 
small bribe, promised to deliver this letter to the de- 
serter, after which, he was permitted to escape. The 
prisoner, as was foreseen delivered the letter to his 
general, who ordered the deserter to be put in irons ; 
and, was, in no small degree, embarrassed to deter- 
mine whether the letter ought to be considered as a 
stratagem to save Frederica, and induce the abandon- 
ment of the enterprise ; or as real instructions to direct 
the conduct of a spy. While hesitating on the course 
to be pursued, his doubts were removed by one of 
those incidents, which have so much influence on 
human affairs. 

The assembly of South Carolina had voted a sup- 



360 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. X p]y Qf jYioney to general Oglethorpe; and the cijovernor 
had ordered some ships of force to his aid. These 
appeared oft' the coast while the principal officers of 
the Spanish army were yet deliberating on the letter. 

Spanish Thev deliberated no lonsjer. The whole army was 

army re- _ • _ ^ *' _ • 

embarks in scizcd w ith 3 panlc ; and, after setting fire to the fort, 

coutusion. , , 1 • 1 1 r • 1 • 1 

enjbarked m great hurry and contusion, leaving be- 
hind several pieces of heavy artillery, and a large 
quantity of provisions and military stores. 

Thus was Georgia delivered from an invasion 
which threatened the total subjugation of the pro- 
vince. 

The ill success of these reciprocal attempts at con- 
quest, seems to have discouraged both parties ; and 
the Spanish and English colonies, in the neighbour- 
hood of each other, contented themselves, for the re- 
sidue of the war, with guarding their own frontiers. 

The connexion between the branches of the house 
of Bourbon was too intimate for the preservation of 
peace u ith France, during the prosecution of war 
against Spain. Both nations expected and prepared 
for hostilities. War had commenced in fact, though 
not in form, on the continent of Europe ; but as they 
carried on their military operations as auxiliaries, in 
support of the contending claims of the elector of 
Bavaria, and the queen of Hungary, to the imperial 
throne, they preserved in America a suspicious and 
jealous suspension of hostility, rather than a real 
peace. 
1744. This state of things was interrupted by a sudden 
incursion of the French into Nova Scotia. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 26l 

The g-overnor of Cape Breton having^ received in-2ILiZiJE' 

. . '" 1/ +4, 

formation that France and Great Britain had become Hnst.iuies 
principals in the war, took possession of de Canseau fiance, 
with a small military and naval force, and made the 
garrison, and inhabitants prisoners of war. This en- 
terprise was followed •by an attempt on Annapolis, 
which was defeated by the timely arrival of a rein- 
forcement from Massachusetts. These offensive 
operations stimulated the English colonists to addi- 
tional efforts to expel such dangerous neiy;hbours, 
and to unite the whole northern continent bordering on 
the Atlantic, under one common sovereign. 

The island of Cape Breton, so denominated from 
one of its capes, lies between the 45th and 47th de- 
gree of north latitude, at the distance of fifteen leagues 
from cape Ray, the south western extremity of New- 
foundland. Its position rendered the possession of it 
very material to the commerce of France ; and the 
facility with which the fisheries might be annoyed 
from its ports, gave it an importance to which it could 
not otherwise have been eniided. Thirty millions of 
livres,* and the labour of twenty-five years, had been 
employed on its fortifications. From its strength, 
and still more from the numerous privateers that 
issued from its ports, it had been termed the Dunkirkf 
of America. On this place, governor Shirley meditat- 
ed an attack. 

The prisoners taken at Canseau, and others who 
had been captured at sea and carried to Louisbourg, 

* About five and a half millions of dollars. -j- Belknap. 



S6S HISTORY OF THE 

^"i744 ^ ^^'^^^ ^^"^ ^° Boston. The information they ^ave, if 
it did not originally suggest this enterprise, contri- 
buted greatly to its adoption. They said that Du- 
vivier had gone to France to solicit assistance for 
the conquest of Nova Scotia, in the course of the 
ensuing campaign; and that the store ships from 
France for Cape Breton, not having arrived on the 
coast until it was blocked up with ice, had retired to 
the West Indies. 

In several letters addressed to administration, go- 
vernor Shirley represented the danger to which Nova 
Scotia was exposed, and pressed for naval ; ssJs»ai;ce. 
These letters were sent by captain Ryal, an officer of 
the garrison which had been taken at Cariseaii, v' hose 
knowledge of Louisbourg, of Cape Breton, and of 
Nova Scotia, enabled him to make s-uch rei)resenta- 
tions to the lords of the admiralty, as were calculated 
to promote the views of the northern colonies. 

The governor was not disappointed. Orders were 
dispatched to commodore Warren, then in the West 
Indies, to proceed towards the north, early in the 
spring ; and to employ such a force as might be ne- 
cessary to protect the northern colonies in their trade 
and fisheries, as well as to distress the enemy. On 
these subjects, he was instructed to consult with 
Shirley, to v\hom orders of the same date were writ- 
ten, directing him to assist the King's ships with 
transports, men, and provisions. 

Such deep impression had the design of taking 
Louisbourg made on the mind -of Shirley, that he did 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S63 



CHAP, X . 

1744.. 



not wait for intelligence of the reception given to his 
application for naval assistance. He was induced to 
decide on engaging in the enterprise, even without such 
assistance, by the representations of Mr. Vaiighan, 
son of the lieutenant governor of New Hampshire, a 
man of a sanguine and ardent temper, who could 
think nothing impracticable which he wished to 
achieve. Mr. Vaughan had never been at Louisbourg, 
but had learned something of the strength of the place, 
from fishermen and others ; and the bold turn of his 
mind suggested the idea of surprising it. There is 
something infectious in enthusiasm, whatever be its 
object ; and Vaughan soon communicated his own 
convictions to Shirley.* 

The governor informed the general court that he 1745 
had a proposition of great importance to communicate, 
and requested that the members would take an oath 
of secrecy, previous to his laying it before them. 
This novel request being complied w^ith, he submitted 
his plan for attacking Louisbourg. It was referred 
to a. committee of both houses ; the arguments for 
and against the enterprise were temperately consider- 
ed ; and the part suggested by prudence prevailed. 
The expedition was thought too great, too hazardous, 
and too expensive. 

The report of the committee was approved by the 
house of representatives, and the expedition was sup- " 
posed to be abandoned , but, notwithstanding the pre- 
caution taken to secure secrecy, the subject which 

• Belknap. 



S64! HISTORY OF THE 



17*5. 



CHAP. K i-i^f^i occupied the legislature was divulged,* and the 
people took a deep interest in it. Numerous petitions 
were presented, praying the general court to re con- 
sider its vote, and to adopt the proposition of the go- 
vernor. Among the several arguments urged in its 
favour, that which the petitioners pressed most ear- 
nestly, was the necessity of acquiring Louisbourg, to 
save the fisheries from ruin. 

The subject being re-considered, a resolution in fa- 
vour of the enterprise was ciirried by a single voice, 
in the absence of several men^bers known to be against 
it. Yet all parties manifested equal zeal for its suc- 
cess. A general embargo vn as laid, and messengers 
were despatched to the several governments as far 
south as Pennsylvania, soliciting their aid. These so- 
licitations succeeded only in the northern provinces. 
There being at that time no person in Neu England 
who had acquired any military reputation, the chief 
command was conferred on colonel Pepperel, a mer- 
chant, who was also a large land holder, and was 
highly respected throughout Massachusetts.! 

All ranks of men coiubined to facilitate the enter- 
prise, and those circumstances which are beyond hu- 
man control, also concurred to favour the general 
wish. 

The governors of Massachusetts and New Hamp- 

• It is said the secret was kept until a member who performed family de- 
votion at his lodgiugs, betrayed it by prayiDg tor the divine blessing on the 
attempt. 

t Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S65 

shire, whose orders forbad their assent to a farther ^HAH^ 
emission of bills of credit, departed from their instruc- 
tions to promote this favourite project ; the people 
submitted to impressments of their propert}' ; and a 
mild v\ inter gave no interruption to their warlike pre- 
parations. 

The troops of Massachusetts,* New Hampshire, 
and Connecticut, amounting to rather more than four 
thousand men, assembled at Canseau about the mid- 
dle of April ; soon after which, to the great joy of the 
colonial troops, admiral Warren arrived, with a con- 
siderable part of his fleet. The army then embarked 
for Chapeaurouge bay, and the fleet cruised oflTLouis- 
bourg. 

After repulsing a small detachment of French troops, 
the landing was effected ; and, in the course of the 
night, a body of about four hundred men led by 
Vaughan, marched round to the north east part of the 
harbour, and set fire to a number of warehouses con- 
taining spirituous liquors and naval stores. The 
smoke being driven by the wind into the grand bat- 
tery, caused such darkness that the men placed in it 
were unable to distinguish objects ; and, being appre- 
hensive of an attack from the whole English army, 
abandoned the fort and fled into the town. 

* The day before the armament sailed from Massachusetts, an express boat, 
which had been disjiatchi d to adiaii-al Warren to solicit assistance, returned 
■with ihe unwelcome intelligence that he declined furnishing the aid requited. 
Thii intormation could not arrf st ihe expeilition. Fortunately for its success, 
the orders from England soon aftt-rwards readied the admiral, who immediate- 
ly detached a. pari of his fleet ; which he soon followed himself in the Superb, 
of sixty guns. 

L 1 



26& HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP X. "YliQ next morning, as Vaugban was returning to 
camp with only thirteen men, he ascended the hill 
which over looked the battery, and observ ing that the 
chimneys in the barracks were without smoke, and 
the staff without its flag, he hired an Indian, with a 
bottle of rum, to crawl through an embrasure, and 
open the gate. Vaughan entered with his men and 
defended the battery against a party ihen landing to 
regain possession until the arrival of a reinforcement. 
For fourteen nights successively, the troops were 
employed in dragging cannon from the landing place 
to the encampment, a distance of near two miles, 
through a deep morass. The army, being totally un- 
acquainted with the art of conducting sieges, made its 
approaches irregularly, and sustained some loss on this 
account. 

While these approaches were making by land, the 
ships of war which continued to cruise off the harbour, 
fell in with and captured the Vigilant, a French man 
of war of sixty-four guns, having on board a reinforce- 
ment of five hundred and sixty men, and a large quan- 
tity of stores for the garrison. Soon after this, an un- 
successful, and, perhaps, a rash attempt was made on 
the island battery by four hundred men ; of whom 
sixty were killed, and one hundred and sixteen taken 
prisoners. All these prisoners, as if by previous con- 
cert, exaggerated the numbers of the besieging army, 
a deception which was favoured by the unevennessof 
the ground, and the dispersed state of the troops ; and 
which probably contributed to the surrender of the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S67 

place. T he provincial army did indeed present a for- ^"^^: ^' 
midabie front, but, in the rear, all was frolic and con- 
fusion. 

The Vipjilant bad been anxiously expected by the 
garrison, «nd the information of her capture excited a 
considerv^b.e degree of perturbation. This event, 
with (he erection of some works on the high cliff at 
the light house, by which the island battery was much 
annoyed, and the preparations evidently making for 
a general assault, determined Duchambon, the gover- Louisbourg 
nor of Louisbourg, to surrender ; and, in a few days,* 
he capitulated. 

Upon entering the fortress, and viewing its strength, 
and its means of defence, all perceived how imprac- 
ticable it would have been to carry it by assault.* 

The joy excited in the British colonies by the suc- 
cess of the expedition against Louisbourg was un- 
bounded. Even those who had refused to participate 
in its hazards and expense, were sensible of its ad- 
vantages, and of the lustre it ohed on the American 
arms. Although some disposition was manifested in 
England, to ascribe the whole merit of the conquest 
to the navy, colonel Pepperel received, with the tide 
of baronet, the more substantial reward of a regiment 
in the British service, to be raised in America ; and 
the same mark of royal favour was bestowed on go- 
vernor Shirley. Reimbursements too were made by 
parliament for the expenses of the expedition. It 

* Belknap. Hutchison. 



S68 HISTORY OF THE 



CAP X. 



1745. 



was the only decisive advantage obtained by the Eng- 
lish during the war. 

The capture of Louisbourg, nnost probably, pre- 
served No\ a Scotia. Duvivier, v\ho had embarked 
for France to solicit an armament for the conquest of 
that province, sailed, in July, 1745, with seven ships 
of war, and a body of land forces. He was ordered 
to stop at Louisbourg, and thence to proceed in the 
execution of his plan. Hearing, at sea, of the fall of 
that place, and that a British squadron was stationed 
at it, he relinquished the expedition against Nova 
Scotia, and returned to Europe. 

The British empire on the American continent con- 
sisted, originally, of tuo feeble settlements unconnect- 
ed with, and almost unknown to each other. For a 
long time the southern colonies, separated from those 
of New England by an immense wilderness, and by 
the possessions of other European powers, had no in- 
tercourse with them, except what was produced by 
the small trading vessels of the north, which occa- 
sionally entered the rivers of the south. Neither par- 
ticipated in the wars or pursuits of the other ; nor were 
they, in any respect, actuated by common views, or 
united by common interest. The conquest of the 
country between Connecticut and Maryland, laid a 
foundation, which the settlement of the middle colo- 
nies completed, for connecting these disjoined mem- 
bers, and forming one consolidated whole, capable of 
moving, and acting in concert. This gradual change, 
unobserved in its commencement, had now become 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S69 

too perceptible to be longer overlooked ; and, hence- chap, x. 
forward, the efforts of the colonies, were in a great 
measure combined, and directed to a common object. 

France, as well as Eniijland, had extended her 
views with her settlements; and, after the fall of Louis- 
bourg, the governments of both nations meditated 
important operations for the ensuing campaign in 
America. 

France contemplated, not only the recovery of Cape Great plans 
Breton and Nova Scotia, but the total devastation of the gerents. 
sea coast, if not the entire conquest of New England. 

Britain, on her part, calculated on the reduction of 
Canada, and the entire expulsion of the French from 
the American continent. 

Shirley repaired to Louisbourg, after its surrender, 
where he held a consultation with Warren and Pep- 
perel on the favourite subject of future and more ex- 
tensive operations against the neighbouring posses- 
sions of France. From that place he u rote pressing- 
ly to administration, for reinforcements of men and 1746. 
ships to enable him to execute his plans. The cap- 
ture of Louisbourg gave such weight to his solicita- 
tions that, in the following spring, the Duke of New 
Castle, then secretary of state, addressed a circular 
letter to the governors of the provinces as far south as 
Virginia, requiring them to raise as many men as they 
could spare, and hold them in readiness to act accord- 
ing to the orders that should be received. Before 
this letter was written, an extensive plan of opera- 
tions had been digested in the British cabinet. It was 
proposed to detach a military and naval armament 



270 HISTORY OF THE 

^"4^.5: which should, early in the season, join the troops to 
be raised in New England, at Louisbourg ; whence 
they were to proceed up the St. Lawrence to Quebec. 
The troops from New York, and from the more 
southern provinces, were to be collected at i^lbany, 
and to march against Crown Point, and Montreal. 

This plan, so far as it depended on the colonies, 
was executed with promptness and alacrity. The 
men were raised, and waited with impatience for em- 
ployment; but neither troops, nor orders, arrived 
from England. The fleet destined for this service, 
sailed seven times from Spithead ; and was compelled 
as often, by contrary winds, to return. 

Late in the season, the military commanders in 
America, despairing of the succours promised by 
England, determined to assemble a body of provin- 
cials at Albany, and make an attempt on Crown Point. 
While preparing for the execution of this plan, they 
received accounts stating that Annapolis was in dan- 
ger from a body of French and Indians assembled at 
Minas; upon which, orders were issued for the troops 
of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hamp- 
shire, to embark for Nova Scotia. Before these 
orders could be executed, intelligence was received 
which directed their attention to their own defence. 

It was reported that a large fleet and army, under 
the command of the duke D'Anville, had arrived in 
Nova Scotia, and the views of conquest, which had 
been formed by the northern colonies, ^vere convert- 
ed into fears for their own safety. For six weeks. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S^l 

continual apprehensions of invasion were entertained : chap, x. 
and the most vigorous measures were taken to repel 
it. From this state of anxious solicitude, they were 
at length relieved by the arrival of some prisoners set 
at liberty by the French, who communicated the ex- 
treme distress of the fleet. 

This formidable armament consisted of near forty 
ships of war, seven of which were of the line ; of two 
artillery ships ; and of fifty-six transports laden with 
provisions and military stores, carrying three thousand 
five hundred land forces, and forty thousand stand of 
small arms, for the use of the Canadians and Indians. 
The fleet sailed in June, but was attacked by such fu- TheFrench 
rious and repeated storms, that many of the ships were persed by 
wrecked, and others dispersed. In addition to this * *'°'^"" 
disaster, the troops were infected with a disease which 
carried them off" in great numbers. While lying in 
Chebucto, under these circumstances, a vessel which 
had been dispatched by governor Shirley to admiral 
Townshend at Louisbourg, with a letter stating his 
expectation that a British fleet would follow that of 
France to America, was intercepted by a cruiser, and 
brought in to the admiral. These dispatches were 
opened in a council of war, which was considerably 
divided respecting their future conduct. This cir- 
cumstance, added to tlie calamities already sustained, 
so affected the commander in chief, that he died sud- 
denly. The vice-admiral fell by his own hand ; and 
the command devolved on Monsieur le Jonguiere, 
governor of Canada, who had been declared chefd^es- 
cadre after the fleet sailed. 



1746. 



27^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP X. 'pi^g design of invading New England was relin- 
quished, and it was resolved to make an attempt on 
Annapolis. With this view the fleet sailed from Che- 
bucto, but was again overtaken by a violent tempest 
which scattered the vessels composing it. Those 
which escaped shipwreck returned singly to France.* 
" Never," says Mr. Belknap, " was the hand of 
divine providence more visible than on this occasion. 
Never was a disappointment more severe on the part 
of the enemy, nor a deliverance more comjjlete, with- 
out human help, in favour of this co ntry." 

As soon as the fears excited by this armament were 
dissipated, the project of dislodging the French and 
Indians, who had invaded Nova Scotia, was resumed. 
Governor Shirley detached a part of the troops of 
Massachusetts on this service ; and pressed the go- 
vernors jf Rhode Island and New Hampshire, to co- 
operate with him. The quotas furnished by these 
colonies were prevented by several accidents from 
joining that of Massachusetts, which was inferior to 
the enemy in numbers. The French and Indians, 
under cover of a snow storm, surprised the English 
at Minas ; vyho, after an obstinate resistance, in which 
they lost upwards of one hundred men, were com- 
pelled to capitulate, and to engage not to bear arms 
against his most christian majesty, in Nova Scotia for 
one year. De Ramsay, who commanded the French, 
returned soon afterwards to Canada. 

No farther transactions of importance took place in 

* HulchisoQ. Belknap, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S73 

America durincj the war, which was terminated by£![I^Zi^ 
the treatv of Aix la Chapelle. By this treaty, it was Treaty of 
stipulated that all conquests made during the vvarpeUef 
should be re'>tored ; and the colonists had the morti- 
fication to see the French re- possess themselves of 
Cape Breton. 

The heavy expenses which had been incurred by 
the New Enp;land colonies, and especially by Massa- 
chusetts, had occasioned large emissions of paper 
money, and an unavoidable depreciation. Instead of 
availing themselves of peace, to dischari2;e the debts 
contracted during war, they eagerly desired to satis- 
fy every demand on the public treasury, by farther 
emissions of bills of credit, redeemable at future and 
distant periods. Every inconvenience under which 
commerce was supposed to labour, every difficulty 
encountered in the interior economy of the province, 
was attributed to a scarcity of money ; and this scar- 
city was to be removed, not by increased industry, but 
by putting an additional sum in circulation. The rate 
of exchange, and the price of all commodities, soon 
disclosed the political truth that, however the quantity 
of the circulating medium may be augmented, its ag- 
gregate value cannot be arbitrarily increased ; and 
that the effect of such a depreciating currency must 
necessarily be, to discourage the payment of debts, 
by holding out the hope of discharging contracts with 
less real value than that for nhich they were made ; 
and to substitute cunning and speculation, for honest 
and regular industry. Yet the majority had perse - 
Mm 



^7*4 / HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. X. vere j \^ thjg demoralising system. The depreciatioii 
had reached eleven for one ; and the evil was almost 
deemed incurable, when the fortunate circumstance 
of a reimbursement in specie, made by Parliament 
for colonial expenditures on account of the expedi- 
tions against Louisbourg and Canada, suggested to 
Mr. Hutchinson, speaker of the house of represen- 
tatives in Massachusetts, the idea of redeeming the 
paper money in circulation, at its then real value. 

This scheme, at first deemed Utopian, was opposed 
by many well meaning men who feared that its effect 
would be to give a shock to the trade and domestic 
industry of the province ; and who thought that, as 
the depreciation had been gradual, justice required 
that the appreciation should be gradual also. 

Paper mo- With great difficulty, the measure was carried ; 

deemed, and the bills of credit in circulation, were redeemed 
at fifty shillings the ounce. The evils which had 
been apprehended were soon found to be imaginary. 
Specie, immediately took the place of paper. Trade, 
so far from sustaining a shock, flourished more than 
before this change in the domestic economy of the 
colony ; and the commerce of Massachusetts imme- 
diately received an impulse, which enabled it to sur- 
pass that of her neighbours who retained their paper 
medium.* 

Revival of 'j^'^g treaty of Aix la Chapelle did not remove the 

contests J ' 

with the previously existing: controversies between the colonies 

French co- ^ •' *^ 

Ionics res. of Francc and England respectins: boundary. These 

pecting D 1 o J 

''"""'■'^'•y- . Hutchison. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ff^Q 

controversies, orio-inatina; in the manner in which their chap, x. 

1748. 

settlements had been made, and at first of small con- 
sequence, were now assuming a serious aspect. 
America was becoming an object of greater atten- 
tion ; and, as her importance increased, the question 
concerning limits became important also. 

In settling this continent, the powers of Europe, 
estimating the right of the natives at nothing, adopt- 
ed, for their own government, the principle, that those 
who first discovered and took possession of any par- ^"^^^ 
ticular territory, became its rightful proprietors. But 
as only a small portion of it could then be reduced 
to actual occupation, the extent of country thus ac- 
quired was not well ascertained. Contests respecting 
prior discovery, and extent of possession, arose 
among all the first settlers. England terminated her 
controversy with Sweden and with Holland, by the 
early conquest .of their territories ; but her conflicting 
claims with France and with Spain, remained un- 
adjusted. 

On the south, Spain had pretensions to the whole 
province of Georgia, while England had granted the 
country as far as the river St Matheo, in Florida. 

On the north, the right of France to Canada was 
undisputed ; but the country between the St. Law- 
rence and New England had been claimed by both 
nations, and granted by both. The first settlement 
appears to have been made by the French ; but its 
principal town, called Port Royal, or Annapolis, had 
been repeatedly taken by the English j and, by the 



S76 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP X. treaty of Utrecht, the whole province, by the name of 
Nova Scotia, or Acad^e, according to its ancient limits 
had been ceded to them. 

But the boundaries of Nova Scotia, or Acadie, had 
never been ascertained. Though the treaty of Utrecht 
had provided that commissioners should be appoint- 
ed by the two crowns, to adjust the limits of their 
respective colonies, the adjustment had never been 
made. France claimed to the Kennebec ; and in- 
sisted " that only the peninsula which is formed by 
the bay of Fundy, the Atlantic ocean, and the gulph 
of St. Lawrence," was included in the cession of 
" Nova Scotia, or Acadie, according to its ancient 
limits." England, on the other hand, claimed all 
the country on the main land south of the river St. 
Lawrence. Under the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, 
commissioners were again appointed to settle these 
differences, who maintained the rights of their re- 
spective sovereigns with great ability, and laborious 
research ; but their zeal produced a degree of asperity 
unfavourable to accommodation. 

While this contest for the cold and uninviting 
country of Nova Scotia was carried on with equal 
acrim(>ny and talents, a controversy arose for richer 
and more extensive regions in the south and west. 
Discovery So carlv as the year 1660, information was re- 
sissippi, ceived, in Canada, from the Indians, that, west of 
that colony, was a great river, flowing neither to the 
north, nor to the east. The government, conjectur- 
ing that it must empty itself either into the gulph of 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^77 

Mexico or the south sea, committed the care of ascer- chap, x. 
taining the fact to Joliet, an inhabitant of Quebec, 
and to the Jesuit Marquette. These men proceeded 
from lake Michigan up the river of the Foxes, ahnost 
to its source, whence they travelled westward to the 
Ouisconsing, which they pursued to its confluence 
with the Mississippi. They sailed down this river 
to the 33d degree of north latitude, and returned by 
land, through the country of the Illinois, to Canada. 

The mouth of the Mississippi was afterwards dis- 
covered by la Salle, an enteri)rising Norman, who, 
immediately after his return to Q lebec, embarked for 
France, in the hope of inducing the cabinet of Ver- 
sailles to patronise a scheme for proceeding by sea 
to the mouth of that river, and setding a colony on its 
banks. 

Having succeeded in this application, he sailed for 
the gulph of Mexico, with a few colonists; but, steer- 
ing too far westward, he arrived at the bay of St. Ber- 
nard, about one hundred leagues from the mouth of 
the Mississippi. In consequence of a quarrel between 
him and Beaujieu, who commanded the fleet, the 
colonists were landed at this place. La Salle was, 
soon afterwards, assassinated by his own men ; and 
his followers were murdered or dispersed by the 
Spaniards and the Indians. 

Several other attempts were made by the French 
to settle the country ; but, by some unaccountable 
fatality, instead of seating themselves on the fertile 
borders of the Mississippi, they continually landed 



378 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP, x. ahnnt the barren sands of Biloxi, and the bay of Mo- 

1749. 

bile. It was not until the year 1722, that the misera- 
ble remnant of those who had been carried thither at 
various times, was transplanted to New Orleans ; nor 
until the year 1731, that the colony began to flourish. 
It had received the name of Louisiana, and soon 
extended itself by detached settlements, up the Mis- 
sissippi and its waters, towards the great lakes.* As 
Scheme for it advanced northward, the vast and interesting plan 
Louisiana^ was formcd of connecting it with Canada by a chain 
S;**^"""" of forts. 

The fine climate and fertile soil of upper Louisiana 
enabling it to produce and maintain an immense 
population, rendered it an object which promised 
complete gratification to the views of France ; while 
the extent given to it by that nation, excited the most 
serious alarm among the colonies of Britain. 

The charters granted by the crown of England to 
the first adventurers, having extended from the At- 
lantic to the South Sea, their settlements had regu- 
larly advanced westward, in the belief that their title 
to the country in that direction, could not be contro- 
verted. The setdements of the French, stretching 
from north to south, necessarily interfered with those 
of the English. Their plan, if executed, would com- 
pletely environ the English. Canada and Louisiana 
united, as has been aptly said, would form a bow, of 
which the English colonies would constitute the 
chord. 

While Great Britain claimed, indefinitely, to the 

^' Abbe Raynal. 



AMERICAN C0L0NIE3t S79 

west, as appertaining to her possession of the sea chap, x. 
coast ; France insisted on confining her to the eastern 
side of the Apalachian, or Alleghany, mountains ; and 
claimed the whole country drained by the Mississippi, 
in virtue of her right as the first discoverer of that 
river. The delightful region which forms the magni- 
ficent vale of the Mississippi was the object for which 
these two powerful nations contended; and it soon be- 
came apparent that the sword must decide the contest. 
The white population of the English colonies was 
supposed to exceed one million of souls, while that of 
the French was estimated at only fifty-two thousand.* 



* The following estimate is taken from " The History of the British empire 


in North America," and is there said to be an authentic account from the mi- 


Jitia rolls, poll taxes, bills of mortality, returns 


from governors, and other au- 


thorities. 






The colonies of 




Inhabitants. 


Halifax and Lunenberg in Nova Scotia 


. 


5,000 


New Hampshire - - . 


- 


30,000 


Massachusetts Bay 


- 


220,000 


Rhode Island and Providence 


- 


35,000 


Connecticut _ . - 


. 


100,000 


New York 


- 


100,000 


The Jerseys _ - - 


- 


60,000 


Pennsylvania (then including Delaware) 


- 


250,000 


Maryland « . - 


- 


85,000 


Virginia . . - 


- 


85,000 


North Carolina . - - 


- 


45,000 


South Carolina « - - 


- 


30,000 


Georgia . - - 


- 


6.000 



Total 1,051,000 
The white inhabitants of the French colonies were thus estimated : 

The colonies of Inhabitants. 

Canada .... 45,000 

Louisiana - , . . 7,000 

Total 52,000 



S80 HISTORY OP THE 

^^^^^ ^ This disparity of numbers did not intimidate the 
governor of New France — a title comprehending both 
Canada and Louisiana ; nor deter him from proceed- 
ing in the execution of his favourite plan. The French 
possessed advantages which, he persuaded himself, 
would counterbalance the superior numbers of the 
English. Their whole power was united under one 
governor, who could give it such a direction as his 
judgment should dictate. The genius of the people 
and of the government was military ; and the inhabi- 
tants could readily be called into the field, when their 
service should be required. Great reliance too was 
placed on the Indians. These savages, with the ex- 
ception of the Five Nations, were generally attached 
to France, and were well trained to war. To these 
advantages was added a perfect knowledge of the 
country about to become the theatre of action. 

The British colonies, on the other hand, were di- 
vided into distinct governments, unaccustomed, ex- 
cept those of New England, to act in concert ; were 
jealous of the power of the crown ; and were spread 
over a large extent of territory, the soil of which, in 
all the middle colonies, was cultivated by men unused 
to arms. 

The governors of Canada, who were generally 
military men, had, for several preceding years, judi- 
ciously selected and fortified such situations as would 
give them most influence over the Indians, and facili- 
tate incursions into the northern provinces. The 
command of lake Champlain had been acquired by 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 281 

the erection of a strong: fort at Crown Point; and a ^hap. x. 

. . 1749 

connected chain of posts was maintained from Que- 
bec, up the St. Lawrence, and along the great lakes. 
It was intended to unite these posts with the Missis- 
sippi by taking positions which would favour the de- 
sign of circumscribing and annoying the frontier set- 
tlements of the English. 

The execution of this plan was, probably, accele- 
rated by an act of the British government. The year irso. 
after the conclusion of the war, several individuals 
both in England and Virginia who were associated 
under the name of the Ohio company, obtained from 
the crown a grant of six hundred thousand acres of 
land, lying in the country claimed by both nations. 
The objects of this company being commercial as well 
as territorial, measures were taken to derive all the 
advantages expected from their grant, in both these 
respects, by establishing trading houses, and by em- 
ploying persons to survey the country. 

The governor of Canada, who obtained early in- 
formation of this intrusion, as he deemed it, into the 
dominions of his most christian majesty, wrote to the 
governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing 
them that the English traders had encroached on the 
French territory by trading with their Indians ; and 
giving notice that, if they did not desist, he should be 
under the necessity of seizing them wherever they 
should be found. At the same time the jealousy of 
the Indians was excited by impressing them with 
Nn 



282 



HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP. X . fears that the Ene^hsh were about to deprive them of 

1750. , . 

their country. 

His threat having been disregarded, the governor 
of Canada put it in execution by seizing the British 
traders among the Twightvvees, and carrying them 
prisoners to Presque-isle, on lake Erie ; where he 
was erecting a strong fort. Al)out ihe same time, a 
communication was opened from Presque-isle, down 
French creek, and the Allegheny river, to the Ohio. 
This communication was kept up by detachments of 
troops, posted at proper distances from each other, in 
works capable of covering them from an attack made 
only with small arms.* 

This territory having been granted as part of Vir- 
ginia, to the Ohio company, who complained loudly 
of these aggressions, Dinwiddie, the lieutenant gover- 
nor of that province, laid the subject before the assem- 
1755. bly, and dispatched MAJOR WASHINGTON, 
the gentleman who afterwards led his countrymen to 
independence, with a letter to the commandant of the 
French forces on the Ohio ; requiring him to with- 
draw from the dominions of his Britannic majesty. 

This letter was delivered at a fort on the river Le 
Boeuf, the western branch of French creek, to Mon- 
sieur le Guarduer de St. Pierre, the commanding 
officer on the Ohio, \\ ho replied that he had taken 
possession of the country by the directions of his 
general, then in Canada, to whom he would transmit 



Minot Gazette. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S83 

% 

the letter of the h'eutenant governor, and whose nrHprt; chap, x. 
he should implicitly obey. 

Preparations were immediately made, in Viry^inia, 
to assert the rights of the British crown ; and a regi- 
ment was raised for the protection of the frontiers. 
Early in the spring, Mi^jor Washington had advanced 1754. 
with a small detachment from this regiment into the 
country to be contended for, where he fell in with 
and defeated a party of French and Indians who were 
approaching him in a manner indicating hostile de- 
signs. On being joined by the residue of his regi- 
ment, the command of which had devolved on him, 
he made great exertions to pre -occupy the post at the 
confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers; 
but, on his march thither, was met by a much supe- 
rior body of French and Indians, who attacked him 
in a small stockade hastily erected at the Little Mea- Defeat at 
dows, and compelled him, after a gallant defence to Meadows. 
capitulate. The French had already taken possession 
of the ground to which Washington was proceedinp-, 
and, having driven off some militia, and workmen 
sent thither by the Ohio company, had erected thereon 
a strong fortification called fort Du Q lesne. 

The earl of Holderness, secretary of state, perceiv- 
ing war to be inevitable, and aware of the advantages 
of union, and of securing the friendship of the Five 
Nations, had written to the governors of the respec- 
tive colonies recommending these essential objects ; 
and, at the same time, ordering them to repel force by 



S84} HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP. X . 

1754. 



force ; and to take effectual measures to dislodge the 
French from their posts on the Ohio. 
Convention At the suffSfestion of the commissioners for the 

at Albany. . . '='° • ,. , , 

plantations, a convention of delegates from the seve- 
ral colonies met at Albany, to hold a conference with 
the five nations on the subject of French encroach- 
ments, and to secure their friendship in the approach- 
ing war. Availing himself of this circumstance go- 
vernor Shirley had recommended to the other gover- 
nors to instruct their con'missioners on the subject of 
union. Ample powers for this object were given to 
the delegates of Massachusetts ; and those of Mary- 
land were instructed to observe what others should 
propose respecting it. But no direct authority for 
concerting any system to call out and employ the 
strength of the colonies, was given by any other of 
the governments. 

The congress, consisting of delegates from New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecti- 
cut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, with the lieutenant 
governor and council of New York, after endeavour- 
ing to secure the friendship of the Five Nations by 
large presents, directed a committee, consisting of 
one member for each colony to draw" and report a 
plan of union. 
Plan of A plan* was reported which was approved on the 

iininn_ * * * * 

4th of July. Its essential principles were, that appli- 
cation be made for an act of parliament authorising 
the formation of a grand council to consist of dele- 

• See note No. 2, at the end of the volume. 



union. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



2S5 



gates from the several legislatures, and a president ^"^^^^ - 
general, to be appointed by the crown, and to be in- 
vested with a negative power. This council was to 
enact laws of general import ; to apportion their quotas 
of men and money on the several colonies ; to deter- 
mine on the building of forts ; to regulate the opera- 
tions of armies ; and to concert all measures for the 
common protection and safety. 

The delegates of Connecticut alone dissented from 
this plan. That cautious people feared that the pow- 
ers vested in the president general might prove dan- 
gerous to their welfare. 

In England, the objections were of a different cha- 
racter. The colonies had, in several instances, mani- 
fested a temper less submissive than was required ; 
and it was apprehended that this union might be the 
foundation of a concert of measures opposing the pre- 
tensions of supremacy maintained by the mother 
country. 

This confederation, therefore, notwithstanding the 
pressure of external danger, did not prevail. It was 
not supported in America, because it was supposed 
to place too much power in the hands of the King ; 
and it was rejected in England from the apprehension 
that the colonial assemblies would be rendered still 
more formidable by being accustomed to co-operate 
with each other. 

In its stead, the minister proposed that the gover- 
nors, with one or two members of the councils of the 
respective provinces, should assemble to consult, and 



HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. X. resolve on measures necessary for the common de- 

1754, 

fence, and should draw on the British treasury for 
the sums to be expended, which sums should be after- 
wards raised by a general tax, to be imposed by par- 
liament on the colonies. 

This proposition being entirely subversive of all the 
opinions which prevailed in America, was not pressed 
for the present ; and no satisfactory plan for calling 
out the strength of the colonies being devised, it was 
determined to carry on the war with British troops, 
aided by such reinforcements as the several provin- 
cial assemblies would voluntarily afford.* 

• Minot. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^^7 

CH\P.XL 



CHAPTER XI. 

General Braddock arrives. — Convention of governors 
and plan of the campaign. — French expelled from 
Nova Scotia, and inhabitants transplanted. — Expe- 
dition against fort Du Qnesne. — Battle of Mono?!' 
gahela. — Defeat and death of general Braddock. — 
Expedition against Crown Point. — Dieskan defeat- 
ed. — Expedition against Niagara. — Frontiers dis- 
tressed by the Indians, — Meeting of the governors 
at New York. — Plan J or the campaign of 1756. 
— Lord Loudoun arrives. — Montcalm takes Oswe- 
go. — Lord Loudoun abandofis offensive operations, 
— Small pox breaks out in Albany. — Campaign of 
1757 opened. — Admiral Holbourne arrives at Hali- 
fax. — Is joined by the earl of Loudoun. — Expedi- 
tion against Louisbourg relinquished. — Lord Lou- 
doun returns to New York. — Fort IVHliam Henry 
taken. — Controversy between Lord Loudoun and 
the assembly of Massachusetts, 

The establishment of the post on the Ohio, and it'ss. 
the action at the Little Meadows, being considered by 
the British government as the commencement of war 
in America, the resolution to send a few regiments to 
that country was in»mediately taken ; and early in the 
year, general Braddock embarked at Cork, at thcBrSck 



S88 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. Ki. hga j Qf a respectable body of troops destined for the 
colonies. 

An active offensive campaign being meditated, ge- 
neral Braddock convened the governors of the seve- 
ral provinces, on the 14th of April, in Virginia, who 
resolved to carry on three expeditions. 
Plan of the ^he first, and most important, was against fort Du 
Quesne. This was to be conducted by general Brad- 
dock in person at the head of the British troops, with 
such aids as could be drawn from Maryland and Vir- 
ginia. 

The second, against Niagara and fort Frontignac, 
was to be conducted by governor Shirley. The 
American regulars, consisting of Shirley and Peppe- 
rel's regiments, constituted the principal force destined 
for the reduction of these places. 

The third was against Crown Point. This origi- 
nated with Massachusetts ; and was to be prosecuted 
entirely with colonial troops, to be raised by the pro- 
vinces of New England, and by New York. It was 
to be commanded by colonel William Johnson of the 
latter province.* 

While preparations were making for these several 
enterprises, an expedition, which had been previous- 
ly concerted by the government of Massachusetts, 
was carried on against the French in Nova Scotia. 

It has been already stated that the limits of this 
province remained unsettled. While the commis- 
sioners of the two crowns were supporting the claims 

• Minot. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 380 

of their respective sovereigns in fruitless memorials, cu\p xi. 
the French occupied the country' in contest, and estab- 
lished military posts for its defence. Against these 
posts this enterprise was to be conducted. 

On the 20th of May, the troops of Massachusetts, 
together with Shirley's and Pepperel's regiments, 
amounting in the u hole to aljout three thousand men, 
embarked, at Boston, under the command of lieuten- 
ant colonel Winblou. The fleet anchored about 
five miles from fort Lav.rence, where a reinforce- 
ment was received of three hundred British troops 
and a small train of artillery. The whole army, 
commanded by lieutenant colonel Monckton, imme- 
diately after landing, marched against B-^au Sejour, 
the principal post held by the French in that country. 
At the river Mussaquack, which the French consider- 
ed as the western boundary of Nova Scotia, some 
slight works had been thrown up with the intention of 
disputing its passage. After a short conflict, the river 
was passed with the loss of only one man ; and, in 
five days. Beau Sejour capitulated. Other small 
places fell in succession, and, in the course of the 
month of June, with the loss of only three men killed, 
the English acquired complete possession of the whole ^gTi",^^^^ 
province of Nova Scotia. NovaSco- 

The recovery of this province was followed by one 
of those distressing measures which involve indivi- 
duals in indiscriminate ruin, and aggravate the calami- 
ties of war. 

Nova Scotia having been originally settled by 
Go 



S90 HISTORY OF THE 

lElL^f:2E- France, its inhabitants were, chiefly, of that nation. 
In the treaty of Utrecht, it was stipulated for the co- 
lonists that they should be permitted to hold their 
lands on condition of taking the oaths of allegiance to 
their new sovereign. With this condition they re- 
fused to comply, unless permitted to qualify it with a 
proviso that they should not be required to bear arms 
in defence of the province. Though this qualifica- 
tion, to which the commanding officer of the British 
forces acceded, was afterwards disallowed by the 
crown, yet the French inhabitants continued to con- 
sider themselves as neutrals. Their devotion to 
France, however, would not permit them to conform 
their conduct to the character they had assumed. In 
all the contests for the possession of their country, 
they were influenced by their wishes rather than their 
duty ; and three hundred of them were captured with 
the garrison of Beau Sejour. 

Their continuance in the country, during the obsti- 
nate conflict which was commencing, would, it was 
feared, endanger the colony ; and to expel them from 
it, leaving them at liberty to choose their place of re- 
sidence, would be to re-enforce the French in Cana- 
da. A council was held by the executive of Nova 
Scotia aided by the admirals Boscawen and Morty, 
Theinhabi-for the purpose of deciding on the destiny of these un- 
pianS"^' fortunate people ; and the severe policy was adopted 
of removing them from their homes, and dispersing 
them through the other British colonies. This harsh 
measure was immediately put in execution ; and the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S9i 

miserable inhabitants of Nova Scotia were, in one in- chap xi. 

1755. 

stant, reduced from ease and contentment to a state 
of beggary. Their lands, and moveables, with the 
exception of their money and household furniture, 
were declared to be forfeited to the crown ; and, to 
prevent their return, the country was laid waste, and 
their houses reduced to ashes.* 

As soon as the convention of governors had sepa- 
rated, general Braddock proceeded from Alexandria 
to a fort at Wills' creek, afterwards called fort Cum- 
berland, at that time the most western post in Vir- 
ginia or Maryland ; from which place the army des- 
tined against fort Du Quesne was to commence its 
march. The difficulties of obtaining wagons, and 
other necessary supplies for the expedition, and de- 
lays occasioned by opening a road through an exces- 
sively rough country, excited apprehensions that time 
would be afforded the enemy to collect in such force 
at fort Du Quesne, ns to put the success of the enter- 
prise into some hazard. 

Under the influence of this consideration, it was 
determined to select twelve hundred men, who should 
be led by the general in person to the point of desti- 
nation. The residue of the army, under the com- 
mand of colonel Dunbar, was to follow, with the bag- 
gage, by slow and easy marches. 

This disposition being made, Braddock pressed 
forward to his object, in the confidence that he could 



Minot. 



^93 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XT.fin^ ^fy enemy capable of opposing him ; and reached 
the Monongahela on the eighth of July. 

As the army approached fort Du Quesne, the ge- 
neral was cautioned of the dant^er to which the cha- 
racter of his enemy, and the face of the country, ex- 
posed him ; and was advised to advance the provincial 
companies in his front, for the purpose of scouring 
the woods, and discovering ambuscades. But he 
held both his enemy and the provincials in too much 
contempt, to follow this salutary council. Three 
hundred British troops comprehending the grenadiers 
and light infantry, commanded by colonel Gage, 
comi)osed his van ; and he followed, at some distance, 
with the artillery, and the main body of the army, 
divided into small columns. 

Within seven miles of fort Du Quesne, immediately 
after crossing the Monongahela the second time, in 
an open wood, thick set with high grass, as he was 
pressing forv\ard without fear of danger, his front re- 
ceived an unexpected fire from an invisible enemy. 
Battle of The van v\ as throw n into some confusion ; but, the 
heia. general having ordered up the main body, and the 
commanding officer of the enemy having fallen, the 
attack was suspended, and the assailants were sup- 
posed to be dispersed. This delusion was soon dis- 
sipated. The attack w as renewed with increased fury; 
the van fell back on the main body ; and the whole 
army was thrown into utter confusion. 

The general possessed personal courage in an emi- 
yient degree ; but was without experience in that spe- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 293 

cies of war, in which he was engaged ; and seems not ^-^-^P xt. 

• • 1755 ^ 

to have been endowed with that rare fertility of genius 
which adapts itself to the existing state of things, and 
invents expedients fitted to the emergency. In the 
impending crisis, he was pecuharly unfortunate in 
his choice of measures. Neither advancing nor re- 
treating, he exerted his utmost powers to form his 
broken troops, under an incessant and galling fire, on 
the very ground where diey had been attacked. In 
his fruitless efforts to restore order, every officer on 
horseback except Mr. Washington, one of his aids- 
de-camp, was killed or wounded. At length, after 
loosing three horses, the general himself received a 
mortal wound ; upon which his regulars fled in terror 
and confusion. Fortunately, the Indian enemy was 
arrested by the plunder found on the field, an:] the 
pursuit was soon given over. The provincials exhi- 
bited an unexpected degree of courage, and were 
among the last to leave the field. 

The defeated troops fled precipitately to the camp Death of 
of Dunbar, where Braddock expired of his wounds. 
Their panic was communicated to the residue of the 
army. As if affairs had become desperate, all the 
stores, except those necessary for immediate use, 
were destroyed ; and the British troops were march- 
ed to Philadelphia, where they ^\ent into quarters. 
The western parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
Virginia, were left exposed to the incursions of the 
savages ; the frontier settlements were generally 
broyft up ; and the inhabitants were driven into the 



HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.^ir)terior. So excessive was the alarm, that even the 
"^people of the interior entertained apprehensions for 
their safety, and many supposed that the sea-board 
itself was insecure. 

The two northern expeditions, though not so disas- 
trous as that against fort Du Quesne, were, neither of 
them successful. That against Crown Point, was so 
retarded by those causes of delay to which military 
operations conducted by distinct governments are al- 
ways exposed, that the army was not ready to move 
until the last of August. At length general Johnson 
reached the south end of lake George, on his way to 
Ticonderoga, of which he designed to take pos- 
session. 

An armament fitted out in the port of Brest for 
Canada, had eluded a British squadron which was 
stationed off the banks of Newfoundland to intercept 
it ; and, with the loss of two ships of war, had enter- 
ed the St. Lawrence. After arriving at Quebec, the 
baron Dieskau, who commanded the French forces, 
resolved, without loss of time, to proceed against the 
English. At the head of about twelve hundred re- 
gulars, and about six hundred Canadians and Indians, 
he marched against Oswego. On hearing of this 
movement, general Johnson applied for reinforce- 
ments ; and eight hundred men were ordered by 
Massachusetts to his assistance. An additional body 
of two thousand men was directed to be raised for the 
same object, and the neighbouring colonies akp de- 
termined to furnish reinforcements. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ^95 



Dieskau did not wait for their arrival. Perceiving c"ap. xi. 
xhat Johnson was approaching lake George, and being 
informed that the provincials were without artillery, 
he determined to postpone his designs upon Oswego, 
and to attack them in their camp. 

On being informed that Dieskau was approaching, 
Johnson detached colonel Williams, with about one 
thousand men, to reconnoitre and skirmish with him. 
This officer met the French about four miles from the 
American camp, and immediately engaged them. 
He fell early in the action ; and his party was soon 
overpowered and put to flisrht. A second detach- Dieskau de- 
ment, sent in aid of the first, experienced the same 
fate ; and both were closely pursued to the main body, 
who were posted behind a breast-work of fallen trees. 
At this critical moment, within about one hundred 
and fifty yards of this work, the French halted for a 
short time. This interval having given the Americans 
an opportunity to recover from the first alarm, they 
determined on a resolute defence. 

When the assailants advanced to the charge, they 
were received with firmness. The militia and savages 
fled ; and Dieskau was under the necessity of order- 
ing his regulars to retreat. A close and ardent pursuit 
ensued ; and the general himself, being mortally 
wounded and left alone, was taken prisoner. 

During the engagement, a scouting party from fort 
Edward, under captains Folsom and M'Gennis, fell 
in with the baggage of the enemy, and routed the 
guard which had been placed over it. Soon after- 



296 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XI. wards, the retreating army of Dieskau approached, 
and was gallantly attacked by the Americans. This 
unexpected attack from an enemy whose numbers 
were unknown, completed the confusion of the de- 
feated army, which, abandoning its baggage, fled to- 
wards the posts on the lake.* 

The repulse of Dieskau, magnified into a splendid 
victory, had some tendency to remove the depression 
of spirits occasic ned by the defeat of Braddock, and 
to inspire the provincials with more confidence in 
themselves. General Johnson, who was wounded in 
the engagement, received very solid testimonials of 
the gratitude and liberality of his country. Five 
thousand pounds sterling, and the title of baronet, 
were the rewards of his service. 

This success was not improved. The hopes and 
expectations of the public u ere not gratified ; and the 
residue of the campaign W4s spent in fortifying the 
camp. Massachusetts pressed a winter campaign ; 
but when her commissioners met those of Connecti- 
cut and the lieutenant governor and council of New 
York, it was unanimously aj^reed that the army un- 
der general Johnson should be discharged, except 
six hundred men to garrison fort Edward, on the 
great carrying place between the Hudson and lake 
George, and fort William Henry on that lake. 

The French took possession of Ticonderoga, and 
fortified it. 

* Minot. Belkuap. Entic, 



AMERICAN COLONIKS. 397 

The expedition against Niagara and fort Frontig chap x*- 
nac, u as also defeated by delays in making the prepa- Expt-.i.tion 

r- • oi'iTi against Nia- 

rations necessary tor its prosecution. ISh.rley did notgara. 
reach Oswego till late in August. After ascertaining 
the state of the garrison, he determined to abandon 
that part of the enterprise which respected fort Fron- 
tignac, and to proceed ngainst Niagara. While em- 
ployed in the embarkation of his troops on the lake, 
the rains set in with such violence as to suspend his 
operations until the season was so far advanced that 
the attempt against Niagara was also relinquished, 
and Shirley returned to Albany.* 

Thus terminated the campaign of 1755. It open- 
ed with so decided a superiority of force on the part 
of the English, as to promise the most important ad- 
vantages. But, if we exce|)t the expulsion of the 
French from Nova Scotia, no single enterprise was 
crowned with success. Great exertions were made 
by the northern colf)nies, but their eff )rts were pro- 
ductive of no benefit. From the want of one gene- 
ral superintending authority in their councils, which 
could contemplate and control the different parts of 
the system, which could combine all their operations, 
and direct them with effect towards the attainment of 
the object pursued, every thing fiiiled. Such de- 
la) s and deficiencies were experienced that, though a 
considerable force was in motion, it could not be 
bnjught to the point against which it was to act, until 
the season for action was over ; nor execute the plans 

* Minot. Btilknap. Entic. 

Pp 



298 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XL which were concerted until the opportunity had passed 
away. 

The system adopted by the British cabinet, for 
conducting the war in America, left to the colonial 
governments to determine, what number of men each 
should bring into the field ; but required them to sup- 
port their own troops, and to contribute to the support 
of those sent from Great Britain to their assistance. 
But this system could not be enforced. The requi- 
sitions of the minister were adopted, rejected, or mo- 
dified, at the discretion of the government on which 
they were made ; and, as no rule of apportionment 
had been adopted, each colony was inclined to con- 
sider itself as having contributed more than its equal 
share towards the general object, and as having re- 
ceived, less than its just proportion, of the attention 
and protection of the mother country. This temper 
produced a slow and reluctant compliance on the part 
of some, which enfeebled and disconcerted enter- 
prises, for the execution of which the resources of 
several were to be combined. 

Distress of In the mean time the whole frontier, as far as North 

the fron- ,-,-,. i i • 

tiers. Carolina, was exposed to the depredations of the sa- 
vages, who were, almost universally, under the influ- 
ence of the French. Their bloody incursions were 
made in all directions, and many settlements were en- 
tirely broken up. 

It is a curious and singular fact that, while hostili- 
ties were thus carried on by France and England 
against each other in America, the relations of peace 



AMERICAN COLONIES. S99 

and amity were preserved between them in Europe, chap xr 
Each nation had, in consequence of the military ope- 
rations in 1754, determined to fit out a considerable 
armament to aid the efforts made in its colonies ; and, 
when it was understood that admiral Boscawen was 
ordered to intercept that of France, the Due de Mire- 
poix, the French ambassador at London, complained 
of the proposed measure, and gave formal notice that 
the King his master would consider the first gun fired 
at sea, as a declaration of war. On receiving intelli- 
gence of the capture of a part of the squadron by 
Boscawen, the French minister at the court of St. 
James was recalled without asking an audience of 
leave ; upon which, letters of marque and reprisal 
were issued by the British government. This prompt 
and vigorous measure had much influence on the war, 
which was declared, in form, the following spring. 

General Shirley, on his return to Albany after the 
close of the campaign in 1755, received a commis- 
sion appointing him commander in chief of the King's ^ 
forces in North America. A meeting of all the go- 
vernors was immediately called at New York, for the 
purpose of concerting a plan for the ensuing campaign. 
Operations equally extensive with those proposed for 
the preceding campaign were again contemplated. 
To ensure their success, it v^ as determined to raise ten 
thousand men, for the expedition against Crown Point; 
six thousand, for that against Niagara ; and three thou- 
sand, for that against fort Do Qnesne. To favour 
the operations of this formidable force, it was farther 



300 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XI. fletermined that two thousand men should advance 

1755. 

up the Kennebec, destroy the settlement on the Chau- 
diere, and, descending to the mouth of that river, keep 
all that part of Canada in alarm. 

In the mean time, it was proposed to take advan- 
tage of the season when the lake should be frozen, to 
seize Ticonderoga, in order to facilitate the enterprise 
agninst Crown Point. This project was defeated by 
the unusual mildness of the winter ; and, about the 
middle of January, general Shirley repaired to Bos- 
ton in order to make the necessary preparations for 
the ensuing campaign. 

Such was the solicitude to accomplish the objects 
in contemplation, and so deep an interest did the co- 
lonists take in the war, that every nerve was strained, 
to raise and equip the number of men required. 
1756. Having made in Massachusetts all the preparations 
for the next campaign, so far as depended on the go- 
vernment, Shirley repaired to Albany, where he was 
Command superseded* by major general Abercrombie ; who, 
on Lord soon after\\ards, yielded the command to the earl of 
Loudoun. Early in the year, that nobleman had been 
appointed to the command of all his majesty's forces 
in North America ; and extensive powers, civil as well 
as mililarv, had been conferred on him. But he did 
not arrive at Albany until midsummer. 

In the spring, the provincial troops destined for the 
expedition as^ainst Crown Point, were assembled in 
the neighbourhood of lake George. They were found 

• He was also recalled from his government. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 301 

not much to exceed seven thousand men ; and even <"h \v. xi. 
this number was to be reduced in order to garrison 
posts in the rear. This army being too weak to ac- 
complish its object, major general VVinslow, who 
commanded it, declared himself unable to proceed on 
the expedition without reinforcements. The arrival 
of a body of British troops, with general Abercrombie, 
removed this difficulty ; but another occurred which 
still farther suspended the enterprise. 

The regulations respecting rank had given great 
disgust in America ; and had rendered it disagreeable 
and difficult to carry on any military operations which 
required a junction of British and provincial troops. 
When consulted on this delicate subject, VVinslow 
assured general Abercrombie of his apprehensions 
that, if the result of the junction should be to place 
the provincial troops under British officers, it would 
produce general discontent, and perhaps desertion. 
His officers concurred in this opinion; and it w as final- 
ly agreed that British troops should succeed the pro- 
vincials in the posts then occupied by them, so as to 
enable the whole colonial force to proceed under 
Winslow, against Crown Point. 

On the arrival of the earl of Loudoun, this subject 
was revived. The question was seriously propound- 
ed, *' whether the troops in the several colonies of 
New England, armed with his majesty's arms, would, 
in obedience to his commands signified to them, act 
in conjunction with his European troops ; and under 
the command of his commander in chief?" The 



d02 



HISTORY OF THE 



^^5AE;2y. colonial officers answered this question in the affirma- 
tive ; but entreated it as a favour of his lordship, as 
the New England troops had been raised on particu- 
lar terms, that he would permit them, so far as might 
consist with his majesty's service, to act separately. 
This request was acceded to ; but before the army 
could be put in motion, the attention both of the Eu- 
ropeans and provincials, was directed to their own de- 
fence. 
Monteaim Mousicur de Moutcalm, an able officer, who sue- 
go. ceeded Dieskau in the command of the French troops 

in Canada, sought to compensate by superior activity, 
for the inferiority of his force. While the British and 
Americans were adjusting their difficulties respecting 
rank, and deliberating whether to attack Niagara or 
fort du Quesne, Montcalm advanced at the head of 
about five thousand Europeans, Canadians, and In- 
dians, against Oswego. In three days he brou^^ht up 
his artillery, and opened a battery which played on the 
fort vvith considerable effi^ct. Colonel Mercer, the 
commanding officer, was killed ; and, in a few hours, 
the place was declared by the engineers to be no 
longer tenable. The garrison, consisting of the regi- 
ments of Shirley and Pepperel, amounting to sixteen 
hundred men, supplied with provisions for five months, 
capitulated, and became prisoners of war. A respec- 
table naval armament, then on the lake, was also cap- 
tured. 

The fort at Oswego had been erected in the coun- 
try of the Five Nations, and had been viewed by them 



AMERICAN COLONIES^ 303 

with some degree of jealousy. Montcalm, actuated chapxi. 
by a wise policy, destroyed it in their presence ; de- 
claring at the same time, that the French wished only 
to enable them to preserve their neutrality, and would, 
therefore, make no other use of the rights of conquest, 
than to demolish the fortresses which the English had 
erected in their country to overawe them. 

The British general, disconcerted at this untoward 
event, abandoned all his plans of offensive operations. 
General Winslow was ordered to relinquish his in- 
tended expedition, and to fortify his camp, and en- 
deavour to prevent the enemy from penetrating into 
the country by the way of South bay, or Wood 
creek. Major general Webb, w ith fourteen hundred 
men, was posted at the great carrying place ; and, to 
secure his rear, sir William Johnson, with one thou- 
sand militia, was stationed at the German flats. 

These dispositions being made, the colonies were 
strenuously urged to reinforce the army. It was re- 
presented to them that, should any disaster befal 
Winslow, the enemy might be enabled to overrun 
the country, unless opposed by a force much supe- 
rior to that in the field.* 

Durinp; this state of apprehensive inactivity, theSmaii^lbx 

° ^^ ■" ill Albany. 

• The northern colonies had been enabled to attend to these representa- 
tions, and, in some degree to comply with the requisitions made on them, by 
having received from the British government, in the course of the summer, a 
considerable sum of money as a reimbursement for the extraordinary expenses 
of the preceding year. One hundred and fifteen thousand pounds sterling had 
been appoitioned among them, and this sum gave new vigour and energy to 
their councils. 



3()4j history of the 

crT\T> TT. small-pox broke out in Albany. This enemy was 
more dreaded by the provincials than Montcalm 
himself. So ^reat was the alarm, that it was found 
necessary to garrison the posts in that quarter, entirely 
with British troops, and to discharge all the provin- 
cials except a regiment raised jn New York. 

Thus terminated for a second time, in defeat and 
utter disappointment, the sanguine hopes which the 
colonists had formed of a brilliant and successful 
campaign. After all their expensive and laborious 
pre{)arations, not an effort had been made to drive the 
invaders of the country even from their out-post at 
Ticondcroga. 

The expedition to lake Ontario had not been com- 
menced ; and no preparations had been made for that 
against fort Du Q.iesne. The colonies of Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland, and Virginia, far from contemplat- 
ing offensive operations, had been unable to defend 
themselves ; and their frontiers were exposed to all 
the horrors of Indian warfare. 

The expedition up the Kennebec was also aban- 
doned. Thus, no one enterprise contemplated at the 
opening of the campaign, was carried into execution.* 
1757. About the middle of January, the governors of the 
northern provinces were convened in a military coun- 
cil at Boston. The earl of Loudoun opened his pro- 
positions to them with a speech in which he attril)uied 
all the disasters that had been sustained, to the colo- 
nies ; and in uhich he proposed that New England 

• Minot. Bclkuap. Entic. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 305 

should raise four thousand men for the ensuinsr cam-^lILiLZI: 

1/5/. 

paign. Requisitions proportionably large were also 
made on New York and New Jersey. 

The ill success which had, thus far, attended the Campaign 

' . , of 1757. 

combined arms of Great Britain and her colonies, did 
not discourage them. Their exertions to bring a 
powerful force into the field were repeated ; and the 
winter was employed in preparations for the ensuing 
campaign. The requisitions of lord Loudoun were 
complied with ; and he found himself, in the spring, 
at the hand of a respectable army. Some important 
enterprise against Canada, when the armament ex- 
pected from Europe should arrive, was eagerly anti- 
cipated ; and the most sanguine hopes of success were 
again entertained. 

In the beginning of July, admiral Holbourne reach- ^''"^•'•ai 
ed Halifax with a powerful squadron, and reinforce- ;>rnves. 
ment of five thousand British troops commanded bv 
George Viscount Howe, and, on the 6th of the same 
month, the earl of Loudoun sailed from New York 
with six thousand regulars. A junction of these for mi- b joined by 
dable armaments was effected without opposition, anddoun, 
the colonists looked forward with confidence for a 
decisive blow which would shake the power of France 
in America. 

The plan of this campaign varied from that which Jl'^^^^^^' 
had been adopted in the preceding years. The vasfs^^'stLou- 

* *^ ^ "^ isbourg re- 

and complex movements heretofore proposed, were ''nqu'siied. 
no longer contemplated, and offensive operations were 
to be confined to a single object. Leaving the posts 

Qq 



306 HISTORY OF THE 

5!I4?:2ELon the lakes strongly garrisoned, the British general 
determined to direct his whole disposable force against 
Louisbourg ; and fixed on Halifax as the place of 
rendezvous for the fleet and army. 

After assembling the land and naval forces at this 
place, information was received that a fleet had lately 
arrived from France, and that Louisbourg was so 
powerfully defended as to render any attempt upon it 
hopeless. In consequence of this intelligence the en- 
terprise was deferred until the next year ; the general 
and admiral returned to New York in August ; and 
the provincials were dismissed. 

The French general, feeling no apprehension for 
Louisbourg, determined to avail himself of the ab- 
sence of a large part of the British force, and to ob- 
tain complete possession of lake George. With an 
army collected chiefly from the garrisons of Crown 
Point, Ticonderoga, and the adjacent forts ; amount- 
ing, with the addition of Indians, and Canadians, to 
nine thousand men, the marquis de Montcalm laid 
siege to fort William Henry. That place was well 
fortified, and garrisoned by three thousand men ; and 
derived additional security from an army of four thou- 
sand men at fort Edwards, under the command of 
major general Webb. Notwithstanding the strength 
Fort vvii- of the place and its means of defence, Montcalm urged 
taken. "^^ his approaches with so much vigour, that articles of 
capitulation, surrendering the fort, artillery, and stores, 
and stipulating that the garrison should not serve 
against his most christian majesty or his allies for the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 307 



space of eighteen months, were signed within six 
days after its investment. 

When this important place was surrendered, the 
commander in chief had not returned from HaHfax. 
General Webb, alarmed for fort Edward, applied for 
reinforcements ; and the utmost exertions were made 
to furnish the aids he required. The return of the 
army to New York on the last of August, dispelled 
all fear of an invasion, and enabled the general, who 
contemplated no farther active operations, to dismiss 
the provincials. 

Unsuccessful in all his attempts to gather laurels 
from the common enemy, the earl of Loudoun en- 
gaged in a controversy with Massachusetts ; in the 
commencement of v\hich, he displayed a degree of 
vigour which had been kept in reserve for two cam- 
paigns. This controversy is thus stated by Mr. 
Minot. 

Upon information from the governor that a regi- 
ment of Highlanders was expected in Boston, the 
general court provided barracks for the accommoda- 
tion of one thousand men at Castle Island. Soon 
afterwards, several officers arrived from Nova Scotia 
to recruit their regiments. Finding it impracticable 
to perform this service while in the barracks at the 
castle, they applied to the justices of the peace to 
quarter and billet them, as provided by act of parlia- 
ment. The justices refused to grant this request, on 
the principle that the act did not extend to the colo- 
nies. When informed of this refusal, lord Loudoun 



CHAP XI. 



1757. 



308 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XI . addressed a letter to the justices, insisting perempto- 
rily on the right, as the act did, in his opinion, extend 
to America, and to every part of the King's dominions, 
where die necessities of the people should oblige 
him to send his troops. He concluded a long disser- 
tation on the question in the following decisive terms, 
" that having used gentleness and patience, and con- 
futed their arguments, without effect, they having re- 
turned to their first mistaken plan, their not comply- 
ing would lay him under the necessity of taking mea- 
sures to prevent the whole continent from being 
thrown into a state of confusion. As nodiing was want- 
ing to set things right, but the justices doing their duty 
(for no act of the assembly was necessary or wanting 
for it) he had ordered the messenger to remain only 
forty-eight hours in Boston ; and if on his return he 
found things not setded, he would instantly order into 
Boston the three battalions from New York, Long 
Island, and Connecticut ; and if more were wanting, 
he had two in the Jerseys at hand, beside those in 
Pennsylvania. As public business obliged him to 
take another route, he had no more time left to settle 
this material affair, and must take the necessary steps 
before his departure, in case they were not done by 
themselves." 

The general court passed a law for the purpose of 
removing the inconveniences of which the officers 
complained : but, this law not equalling the expecta- 
tions of lord Lfuidcnm, he communicated his dissatis- 
faction in a letter to the governor, which was laid be- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 309 



fore the assembly, who answered by an address to 
his excellency in which the spirit of their forefathers 
seemed to revive. They again asserted that the act 
of parliament did not extend to the colonies ; and that 
they had for this reason enlarged the barracks at the 
casde, and passed a law for the benefit of recruiting 
parties, as near the act of parliament as the circum- 
stances of the country would admit ; that such a law 
was necessary to give power to the magistrates, and 
they were willing to make it, whenever his majesty's 
troops were necessary for their defence. They as- 
serted their natural rights as Enghbhmen ; that by the 
royal charter, the powers and privileges of civil go- 
vernment were granted to them ; that their enjoyment 
of these was their support under all burdens, and 
would animate them to resist an invading enemy to 
the last. If their adherence to their rights and privi- 
leges should, in any measure, lessen the esteem which 
his lordship had conceived for them, it would be their 
great misfortune ; but that they would have the satis- 
faction of reflecting that, both in their words and ac- 
tions, they had been governed by a sense of duty to 
his majesty, and faithfulness to the trust committed 
to them. 

This address being forwarded to lord Loudoun, he 
affected to rely on their removing all difficulties in 
future, and not only countermanded the march of the 
troops, but condescended to make some conciliatory 
observations respecting the zeal of the province in his 
majesty's service. For these the two houses made ai^ 



CHAP. XI . 

1757. 



310 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XI . ample return in a message to the governor, in which 
they disavowed any intention of lessening their depen- 
dence on parliament ; and expressly acknowledged 
the authority of all acts which concerned, and extend- 
ed to, the colonies. 

This explicit avowal of sentiments so different from 
those which Massachusetts had long cherished re- 
specting her connexion with the mother country, 
would induce a belief that she had recently become 
more colonial in her opinions. This was probably the 
fact ; but Mr. Minot, who may be presumed to have 
been personally acquainted with the transaction, does 
not attribute to that cause entirely, the conciliating 
temper manifested at the close of a contest, which had 
commenced with such appearances of asperity. Mas- 
sachusetts had made large advances for the prosecu- 
tion of the war, for which she expected re-imburse- 
ments from parliament ; and was not willing, at such 
a juncture, to make impressions unfavourable to the 
success of her claims. 



ti. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 311 

CHAP. XII 

CHAPTER XII. 

PreparatioJis for the campaign of IV/^S. — Admiral 
Boscawen and general Amherst arrive at Hal fax. 
— Plaji of the campaign. — Expedition against 
Loiiishourg., Ticonderoga, and Crown Point. — Ge- 
neral Ahercrombie repulsed under the walls of Ti- 
conderoga. — Fort Frontignac taken. — Expedition 
against fort Du Quesne. — Preparations for the cam- 
paign of 1759. — General Amherst succeeds general 
Ahercrombie. — Plan of the campaign. — Ticondero- 
ga and Crown Point taken. — Army goes into win- 
ter quarters. — French repulsed at Oswego. — De- 
feated at JViagara. — JVmgara taken. — Expedition ■ 
against Quebec. — Check to the English army. — 
Battle on the Plains of Abraham. — Death of JFolf 
and Montcalm. — Quebec capitulates. — Gari'isoned 
by the English under the command of general Mur- 
ray. — Attempt to recover Quebec. — Battle near Sil- 
lery. — Quebec besieged by Monsieur Levi. — Siege 
raised. — Montreal capitulates. — PFar with the south- 
ern Indians. — Battle near the town of Etchoe. — 
Grant defeats them and burns their towns. — Treaty 
with the Cherokees. — IFar with Spain. — Success 
of the English. — Peace. 

The affairs of great Britain in North America wore I'ss. 
SI more gloomy aspect, at the close of the campaign 



312 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP xii. of 1757^ than at any former period. By the acquisi- 
tion of fort William Henry, the French had obtained 
complete possession of the lakes Champlain, and 
George. By the destruction of Oswego, they had ac- 
quired the dominion of those lakes which connect the 
St. Lawrence with the waters of the Mississippi, and 
unite Canada to Louisiana. By means of fort Du 
Quesne, they maintained their ascendency over the 
Indians, and held undisturbed possession of the coun- 
try west of the Allegheny mountains; while the Eng- 
lish settlers were driven to the blue ridge. The great 
object of the war in that quarter was gained, and 
France held the country for which hostilities had been 
commenced. With inferior numbers, the French had 
been victorious in every campaign, and had uniform- 
ly gained ground on the English colonies. Nor were 
they less successful elsewhere. The flame of war 
which was kindled in America, had communicated 
itself to Europe and Asia. In every quarter of the 
world where hostilities had been carried on, the Brit- 
ish arms were attended with defeat and disgrace. 

But this inglorious scene was about to be succeed- 
ed by one of unrivalled brilliancy. From the point 
of extreme depression to which their affairs had sunk, 
the brightest era of British history was to commence. 
F'ar from being broken by misfortune, the spirit of the 
nation was high ; and more of indignation than dismay 
was inspired by the ill success of their arms. The 
public voice had, at length, made its way to the throne, 
and had forced, on the unwilling monarch, a minister 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 313 

who has been justly deemed one of the greatest men£!iiL^ 
of the age in which he hved. 

Mr. Pitt had been long distinguished in the house 
of commons, for the boldness and the splendour of 
his eloquence. His parliamentary talents, and the in- 
dependent grandeur of his character, had given him a • 
great ascendancy in that body, and had made him the 
idol of the nation. In 1756, he had been introduced 
into the cabinet, but could not long retain his place. 
The public affection followed him out of office ; and, 
the national disasters continuing, it was found imprac- 
ticable to conduct the complicated machine of govern- 
ment without his aid. In the summer of 1757, an 
administration was formed, which conciliated the great 
contending interests in parliament ; and Mr. Pitt was 
placed at its head. The controling superiority of his 
character gave him the same ascendancy in the cabi- 
net which he had obtained in the house of commons; 
and he seemed to dictate the measures of the nation. 
Only a short time was required to show that qualities, 
seldom united in the same person, w^ere combined in 
him ; and his talents for action seemed to eclipse even 
those he had displayed in debate. His plans par- 
taking of the proud elevation of his own mind, and 
the exalted opinion he entertained of his countrymen, 
were always grand ; and the means he employed for 
their execution, were always adequate to the object. 
Possessing the public confidence without limitation, 
he commanded all the resources of the nation, and 
drew liberally from the public purse ; but the money 
Rr 



31^ HISTORY OF THE 

CFVPjm v\ras always faithfully and judiciously applied to the 
public service. Too great in his spirit, too lofty in 
his views, to become the instrument of faction; when 
placed at the head of the nation, he regarded only the 
interest of the natitjn ; and, overlooking the country 
or the party, which had given birth to merit, he 
searched for merit only, and employed it wherever it 
was found. From the elevation of the house of 
Brunswick to the British throne, a great portion of the 
people, under the denomination of tories, had been de- 
graded, persecuted, and oppressed. Superior to this 
narrow and short sighted policy, Mr. Pitt sought to 
level these enfeebling and irritating distinctions, and 
lo engage every British subject in the cause of his 
country. Thus commanding both the strength and 
the wealth of the kingdom, with perhaps greater 
talents, he possessed certainly greater means, than 
any of his predecessors.* 

In no part of his majesty's dominions was the new 
administration more pojmlar than in his American 
colonies. Deeply and peculiarly interested in the 
events of the war, they looked for a change of fortune 
from this change of men, and cheerfully made every 
exertion, of v\hi(.h they were capal)le, for the ensuing 
campaign. The circular letter of Mr. Pitt assured 
the several governors that, to repair the losses and 
disappointments of the last inactive campaign, the 
cabinet was determined to send a formidable force, 
to operate by sea and land, against the French in 

* Russel. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 315 

America ; and he called upon them to raise as larce ^!ii^JQ! 

1 I- p • 1 • I • • ' 1758. 

bodieis of men, within their respective govermnents, 
as the number of inhabitants might allow. Arms, 
ammunition, tents, provisions, and boats, would, he 
said, be f rnished by the crown ; and he required the 
colonies to clothe and pay their men ; assurintj them, 
at the same time, that it should be recommended to 
parliament to make them compensation. 

The legislature of Massachusetts ajjreed to furnish '"'•'^=*f i"^' 
seven thousand men ; Connecticut five thousand ; and f'"i'i<' «am- 
Nevv Hampshire three thousand. These troops, 
great as were their numbers, when compared with 
the population of the country, were in the field early 
in May ; and the transports for carryiui^ those of Mas- 
sachusetts to Halifax, were ready to sail in fifteen 
days after they were engaged. Near one-thiril of the 
effective men of that province, are said to have been 
in military service; and the taxes were so heavy that, 
in the capital, they amounted to two-thirds of the in- 
come of real estate.* 

In the mother country too, the utmost activity 
was transfused into every department. Her fleets 
blocked up in the French ports the men and stores 
designed for Canada, and captured, on the seas, most 
of those which had been able to make their way into 
the ocean. At the same time, a powerful armament, 
equipped with unusual expedition, sailed from her Admiral 
ports. Early in the spring, admiral Boscavven ar- and gmerai 
rived at Halifax with a formidable fleet, and twelve ardve.'^ 

• Minot. 



316 HISTORY OF THE 

CHvpjfii thousand British troops, under the command of eene- 
ral Amherst. 

The earl of Loudoun had returned to England, 
and the command of the British and American forces 
in the colonies, had devolved on general Abercrombie. 
That officer found himself at the head of the most 
powerful army ever seen in the new world. His 
whole numbers, comprehending troops of every de- 
scription, have been computed by Mr. Belsham at 
fifty thousand men, of whom twenty thousand were 
provincials. 

The objects of the campaign were no longer de- 
feated by delays. The preparations for action were 
made during the winter, and military operations com- 
menced in the spring. 
Plan of the Three cxpedltions wcre proposcd. The first was 
campaign, ^g^jpjgj Louisbourg ; the second against Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point ; and the third against fort du 
Qiiesne.* 

The army destined an;ainst Louisbourg, consisting 
of fourteen thousand men, was commanded by major 
general Amherst ; and the fleet, consisting of twenty 
ships of the line and eighteen frigates, by admiral 
SlmslSu. Boscawen. On the 24th of May, the troops embark- 
Lsbourg. gj ^^ Halifax ; and, on the 2d of June, arrived before 
Lou'sbourg. 

The use made by Great Britain of her naval supe- 
riority wa» felt in no part of the possessions of his most 
christian majesty more sensibly than in Louisbourg. 

• Minot. Belknap. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 317 

The garrison of that important place was composed chap, xii 
of only two thousand five hundred regulars, aided by 
six hundred militia. The harbour was defended by 
five ships of the line ; one ship of fifty guns ; and five 
frigates, three of which were sunk across the mouth 
of the basin. 

Soon after investment of the place, one of the large 
ships was set on fire by a bomb from a battery on the 
light house point, and blown up. The flames were 
communicated to two others which shared the same 
fate. The English admiral then sent a detachment 
of six hundred seamen, in boats, into die harbour, un- 
der captains La Forcey and Balfour, to make an at- 
tempt on the two remaining ships of the line, which 
still kept possession of the basin. This service was 
executed with great gallantry. One, which was 
aground, was destroyed, and the other was towed off" 
in triumph. 

The harbour being in possession of the English, 
and several practicable breaches made in the works, 
the place was no longer deemed defensible, and the 
governor was under the necessity of capitulating. 
The garrison became prisoners of war, and Louis- 
bourg, with its artillery, prov isions, and military 
stores ; and also Island Royal, St. Johns, and their 
dependencies, were surrendered to the English, who 
encountered no farther difficulty in taking possession 
of the whole island.* 

This important acquisition was made with the loss 

* Minot. Belknap. Belsham. Russel. 



318 HISTOEY OF THE 

CHAP. XII qf t5etxveen five and six hundred men, killed and 

1758. 

wounded. The joy it diffused throui>;hout the colo- 
nies, long familiarised to disaster, was in proportion to 
their former disappointments. 
tmderola.' "^^^ expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point was conducted by general Abercrombie in per- 
son. His army, consisting of near sixteen thousand 
effectives, of whom nine thousand were provincials, 
was attended by a formidable train of artillery, and 
possessed every requisite to ensure success. 

On the 5th of July, he embarked on lake George, 
and reached the landing place early the next morning. 
A disembarkation being effected without opposition, 
the troops were immediately formed into four columns, 
the British in the centre, and the Provincials on the 
flanks ; in which order they marched towards the ad- 
vanced guard of the French, composed of one batta- 
lion posted in a log camp, which, on the approach of 
the English, made a precipitate retreat. 

Abercrombie continued his march towards Ticon- 
deroga, with the intention of investing that place ; but, 
the woods being thick, and the guides unskilful, his 
columns were thrown into confusion, and, in some 
measure, entangled with each other. In this situation 
lord Howe, at the head of the right centre column, 
fell in with a part of the advanced guard of the 
French, which, in retreating from lake George, was 
likevvise lost in the wood. He immediately attacked 
and dispersed them ; killing several, and taking one 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 819 

hundred and forty-eight prisoners, among whom were chap, xii 
five officers. 

This small advantage was purchased at a dear rate. 
Though only two officers, on the side of the British, 
were killed, one of these was lord Howe himself, who 
fell on the first fire. This gallant young nobleman 
had endeared himself to the whole army. The Bri- 
tish and provincials alike lamented his death ; and the 
assembly of Massachusetts passed a vote for the 
erection of a superb cenotaph to his memory, in the 
collegiate church of Westminster, among the heroes 
and patriots of Great Britain. 

Without farther opposition, the English army took 
possession of the post at the Saw Mills, within two 
miles of Ticonderoga. This fortress, which com- 
mands the communication between the two lakes, is 
encompassed on three sides by water, and secured in 
front by a morass. The ordinary garrison amounting 
to four thousand men, v\ as stationed under the can- 
non of the place, and covered by a breast-work, the 
approach to which had been rendered extremely diffi- 
cult by trees felled in front, with their branches out- 
ward, many of which were sharpened so as to answer 
the purpose of chevaux-de-frize. This body of troops 
was rendered still more formidable by its general than 
by its position. It was commanded by the marquis 
de Montcalm. 

Having learned from his prisoners the strength of 
the army under the walls of Ticonderoga, and that a 
reinforcement of three thousand men was daily ex- 



320 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAPxn pectgj^ general Abercrombie thought it advisable to 
storm the place before this reinforcement should ar- 
rive. Being informed by an engineer directed to re- 
connoitre the works, that they were unfinished, and 
were practicable, he resolved, without waiting for his 
artillery, to storm the lines ; and the dispositions for 
an assault were instantly made. 

The rangers, the light infantry, and the right wing 
of the provincials, were ordered to form a line out of 
cannon shot of the intrenchments, with their right ex- 
tending to lake George, and their left to lake Cham- 
plain. The regulars who were to storm the works^ 
were formed in the rear of this line. The piquets 
were to begin the attack, and to be sustained by the 
grenadiers ; and the grenadiers by the battalions. 
The whole were ordered to march up briskly, to rush 
upon the enemy's fire, and to reserve their own until 
they had passed the breast-work. 

The* troops marched to the assault with great intre- 
pedity ; but their utmost efforts could make no im- 
pression on the works. The impediments in front of 
the intrenchments retarded their advance, and exposed 
them, while entangled among the boughs of the trees, 
to a very galling fire. The breast work itself was 
eight or nine feet high, and much stronger than had 
been represented ; so that the assailants, who do not 
General appear to havc been furnished with ladders, were un- 
blerl^pu"^.! ^^^'^ to pass it. After a contest of near four hours, 
w" n^orri- ^"^ several repeated attacks, general Abercrombie 
conderoga. ordered a retreat. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 321 

The army retired to the camp from which it hadGHlH^ 
marched in the morning ; and, the next day, resumed 
its former position on the south side of lake Georj^e.* 

In this rash attempt, the killed and wounded of the 
English amounted to near two thousand men, of 
whom not quite four hundred were provincials. The 
French were covered during the whole action, and 
their loss was inconsiderable. f 

Entirely disconcerted by this unexpected and 
bloody repulse, general Abercrombie relinquished 
his designs against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
Searching however for the means of repairing the 
misfortune, if not the disgrace, sustained by his arms, 
he readily acceded to a proposition made by colonel 
Bradstreet, for an expedition against fort Frontignac. 
This fortress stands on the north side of Ontario, at 
the point where the St. Lawrence issues from that 
lake ; and though a post of real importance, had been 
left, in a great degree, undefended. 

The detachment designed for this service was com- 
manded by colonel Bradstreet. It consisted of three 
thousand men, of whom two hundred were British, 
and was furnished with eight pieces of cannon, and 
three mortars. 

Colonel Bradstreet embarked on the Ontario at Os- Fort Fi^oq- 
wego, and on the 25th of August, landed within one ken. 
mile of the fort. In two days, his batteries were 
opened at so short a distance that almost every shell 
took effect ; and the governor, finding the place ab- 

• Letter of general Abercrombie, f Minot. Belknap. 

S S 



HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XII qptintelv untenable, surrendered at discretion. The 

1758. ' • 

Indians havinj^ deserted, the prisoners amounted only 
to one hundred and ten men. A great quantity of 
military stores, together with nine armed vessels, 
mounting from eight to eighteen guns, also fell into 
the hands of the English.* 

After destroying the fort and vessels, and such 

stores as could not be brought off, colonel Bradstreet 

returned to the army which undertook nothing farther 

during the campaign. 

Expedition y^c demolition of fort Frontignac and of the stores 

against fort o 

du QufeBiie. which had been collected there, contributed material- 
ly, to the success of the expedition ag;ainst fort du 
Quesne. The conduct of this enterprise had been 
entrusted to general Forbes, who marched from Phi- 
ladelphia, about the beginning of July, at the head of 
the main body of the army, destined for this service, 
in order to join colonel Bouquet at Raystown, So 
much time was employed in preparing to move from 
this place, that the Virginia regulars, commanded by 
colonel Washington, were not ordered to join the 
British troops until the month of September. It had 
been determined not to use the road made by Brad- 
dock, but to cut a new one from Raystown to fort 
" du Quesne. About the time this resolution was 
formed, and before the army was put in motion, ma- 
jor Grant was detached from the advanced post at 
Loyal Hannan with eight hundred men, to reconnoitre 
the fort and the adjacent country. This gentleman 

• Letter of colonel Bradstreet. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 333 

invited an attack from the ararrison, the resnlt pfCHVp.xii 

^ 1758. 

which was that upwards of three hundred of the de- 
tachment were killed and wounded, and major Grant 
himself was made a prisoner.* 

Earlv in October general Forbes moved from Rays- 
town ; but the obstructions to his march were so i>reat 
that he did not reach fort du Q.iesne until late in 
November. The garrison, being deserted by the 
Indians, and too weak to maintain the place aarainstFort du 
the formidable army which u as approaching, aban- evacuated. 
doned the fort the evening before the arrival of the 
British, and escaped down the Ohio in boats. The 
Knglish placed a garrison in it, and changed its name 
to Pittsburg, in compliment to their popular minister. 
The acquisition of this post was of great importance 
to Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Its pos- 
session had given the French an absolute control 
over the Indians of the Ohio, who were accustomed 
to assemble at that place, for the purpose of making 
their destructive incursions into those colonies. 
Their route was marked by fire and the scalping 
knife ; and neither age nor sex could afFv)rd exemp- 
tion from their ferocity. The expulsion of the French 
gave the English entire possession of the country, 
and produced a complete revolution in the disposition 
of , the Indians inhabiting it. Finding the current of 
success to be running against their ancient friends, 
they were willing to reconcile themselves to the most 



MSS. 



324} HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP xn powerFnl ; and all the Indians between the lakes and 
the Ohio concluded a peace with the En'glish. 

Although the events of 1758 did not equal the ex- 
pectations which had been formed from the force 
brought into the field, the advantages were decisive. 
The whole country constituting the original cause of 
the war, had changed masters, and was in possession 
of the English. The acquisition of the island of Cape 
Breton opened the way to Quebec ; and their success 
in the west enabled them to direct all their force 
against Canada. The colonies, encouraged by this 
revolution in their affairs, and emboldened, by the 
conquests already made, to hope for others still more 
extensive, prepared vigorously on the application of 
Mr. Pitt, for the farther prosecution of the war. 
General Late in the year 1758, general Abercrombie was 

succeeds succeeded in the command of the army by major 
ibercrom- general Amherst, who formed the bold plan of con- 
^'^* quering Canada* in the course of the ensuing cam- 

paign. 
1759. The decided superiority of Great Britain at sea, 
and the great exertions of France in other quarters of 
the world, still prevented the arrival of such rein- 
forcements as were necessary for the preservation of 
his most christian majesty's possessions in North 
Plan of the America. To take advantage of this weakness, the 
English proposed to enter Canada by three different 
routes, with three powerful armies ; and to attack all 
the strong holds by va hich that country was defended. 
It was determined that one division of the army, to 



AMERICAN COLONIES, S25 

be eomttianded by brigadier general Wolf, a young ^HAPxn 
officer who "had signalised himself in the siege of 
Louisbourg, should ascend the St. Lawrence, and 
lay siege to Quebec. A strong fleet was to escort 
the troops destined for this enterprise, and to co-ope- 
rate with them. 

Major general Amherst was to lead the central and 
main army against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; 
After making himself master of these places, he was 
to proceed over lake Champlain, and by the way of 
Richlieu, to the St. Lawrence, and down that river, 
so as to effect a junction with general Wolfe before 
the walls of Quebec. From their combined force, 
the conqi est of the capital of Canada was expected. 

The third army was to be commanded by general 
Prideaux. Its first destination was against Niagara. 
After the reduction of this place, Prideaux was to 
embark on lake Ontario, and proceed down the St. 
Lawrence against Montreal. Should Montreal fall 
into his hands before the surrender of Quebec, he was 
to join the grand aruiy at that place.* 

It could not be expected that a plan so extensive 
and so complex, should succeed in all its parts ; and it 
was greatly to be apprehended, that the failure of one 
part might defeat the whole. But it suited the daring 
spirit which eminently distinguished the officers then 
commanding the British forces, and was entered upon 
"svith zeal and activity. 

As the other two expeditions, expecially that against 

• Miiiot. Belknap, Belsham. Russel. Entir^. 



326 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XII Quebec, were supposed to depend greatly on the ce- 
lerity with u hich the movements of the main army 
should be made, general Amherst began his prepa- 
rations in the commencement of winter, for the enter- 
prise he was to undertake. Early in the spring, he 
transferred his head quarters from New York to Al- 
bany, where his troops were assembled by the last of 
Mas . Notwithstanding his continued exertions, the 
summer was far advanced before he could cross lake 
George ; nor did he reach Ticonderoga until the 22d 
Ticondero-of July. The liucs drawu around that place were 
ed, immediately abandoned, and the English took posses- 

sion of them. 

The French troops in this quarter being unequal 
to the defence of the posts they held, their object 
seems to have been, to embarrass and delay the inva- 
ding army ; but not to hazard any considerable dimi- 
nution of strength, by persevering in the defence of 
places until the retreat of the garrison should become 
impracticable. The hope was entertained, that by 
retreating from post to post, and making a show of 
intending to defend each, the advance of the English 
might be retarded, until the season for action on the 
lakes should pass away ; while the French would be 
gradually strengthened by concentration, and thus 
enabled to maintain some point, which would arrest 
the progress of Amherst down the St. Lawrence. 

In pursuance of this plan, as soon as the English 
had completed their arrangements for taking posses- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 337 

sion of lake Champlain, the garrison of Ticonderog^ chapxii. 
retreated to Crown Point. 

Early in the month of August, Amherst advanced 
to Crown Point, which was abandoned on his ap-an<i Grown 
proach ; and the garrison retired to isle Aux Noix, 
at the northern. extremity of lake Champlain. The 
French had collected between three and four thou- 
sand men at this place, in an entrenched camp, de- 
fended by artillery, and protected by several armed 
vessels on the lake. After making great exertions to 
obtain a naval superiority, General Armherst em- 
barked his army on lake Champlain ; but, a succes- 
sion of storms compelling him to abandon the farther 
prosecution of the enterprise, he returned to Crown 
Point, where the troops were put into winter quarters.* 

In the beginning of July, general Prideaux, embark- 
ed on lake Ontario with the army destined against 
Niagara. Immediately after his departure from Os- 
wego, that place, which was defended by twelve hun- 
dred men under the command of colonel Haldiman, 
was vigorously attacked by a body of French and In- 
dians, who were repulsed with some loss. 

In the mean time, Prideaux proceeded towards 
Niagara, and landed without opposition, about three 
miles from the fort. The place was invested in 
form, and the siege was carried on by regular ap- 
proaches. In its progress, general Prideaux was killed 
by the bursting of a cohorn, and the command de- 
volved on general Johnson. Great efforts were made 

• INIinot. Belknap. Belsbam. Russel. New York Ga/elte. 



328 HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP.xii jQ relieve this important place. A considerable body 
of troops drawn from the neighbouring garrisons, aid- 
ed by some Indian auxiliaries, advanced on the Eng- 
lish army, with the determination to risk a battle, in 
order to raise the siege. Early in the morning of the 
24th, the approach of this party was announced, and 
a strong detachment marched out to meet it. The 
action, which immediately commenced, was not of 
long duration. The French were forsaken by their 
savage allies, and victory soon declared in favour of 
the English. 

Niagara ca- This battle decided the fate of Niagara. The 

pilulales. rii- 111 iii- 

works of the besiegers had been pushed withm one 
hundred yards of the walls, and a farther attempt to 
defend the place being hopeless, a capitulation was 
signed, by which the garrison, amounting to rather 
more than six hundred men, became prisoners of war. 
Although important advantages were gained by the 
British arms in Upper Canada, yet, as neither division 
of the army, in that quarter, succeeded so completely 
as to co-operate with general Wolfe, serious fears 
were entertained for the fate of that officer. The en- 
terprise conducted by him being of the greatest hazard 
and of the deepest interest, its success was to decide, 
whether the whole campaign would terminate in a 
manner favourable to the future conquest of Canada. 
Expedition As soou as the waters were sufficiently freed from 

against 

Quebec. Jce to be navigable, Wolfe embarked eight thousand 
men with a formidable train of artillery, at Louisbourg, 
under convoy of admirals Saunders and Holmes. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 329 

Late in June, he anchored about half way up the chap, xii 
island of Orleans, on which he landed, without oppo- 
sition. 

From this position, he could take a near and accu- 
rate view of the obstacles to be surmounted, before 
he could hope for success in his enterprise. These 
were so great, that even his bold and sanguine tem- 
per perceived more to fear than to hope ; and, in a 
celebrated letter written to Mr. Pitt, and afterwards 
published, he declared that he could not flatter him- 
self with being able to reduce the place.* 

Quebec stands on the north side of the St. Law- 
rence, and on the west of the St. Charles, which rivers 
unite immediately below the town. It consists of an 
upper and a lower town ; the latter is built upon the 
strand, which stretches along the base of the lofty 
rock, on which the former is situated. This rock 
continues, with a bold and steep front, far to the west- 
ward, parallel to, and near the river St. Lawrence. 
On this side, therefore, the city might well be deem- 
ed inaccessible. On the other, it was protected by 
the river St. Charles, in which were several armed 
vessels, and floating batteries, deriving additional se- 
curity from a strong boom drawn across its mouth. 
The channel of this river is rough and broken, and 
its borders intersected with ravines. On its left, or 
eastern bank, was encamped a French arm}', strongly 
entrenched, and amounting, according to the English 

* Belsham. 

Tt 



330 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xii accounts, to ten thousand men.* The encampment 
extended from St. Charles, eastward, to the Mont- 
morency, and its rear was covered by an ahnost im- 
penetrable wood. To render this army still more 
formidable, it was commanded by a general, who had 
given signal proofs of active courage, and consum- 
mate prudence. The marquis de Montcalm, who, 
when strong enough to act offensively, had so rapid- 
ly carried Oswego, and fort William Henry, and who, 
when reduced to the defensive, had driven Abercrom- 
bie with such slaughter from the walls of Ticondero- 
ga, was now at the head of the army which covered 
Quebec, and was an antagonist, in all respects, wor- 
thy of Wolfe. 

The British general perceived these difficulties in 
their full extent, but, his ardent mind glowing with 
military enthusiasm, sought only how to subdue 
them. 

He took possession of Point Levi, on the southern 
side of the St. Lawrence, where he erected several 
heavy batteries, w hich opened on the town, but were 
at too great a distance to make any considerable im- 
pression on the works. Nor could his ships be em- 
ployed in this service. The elevation of the principal 
fortifications placed them beyond the reach of the 
guns of the fleet ; and the river was so commanded 



• These accounts must be exaggerated. According to the letter of general 
Townshend, the force engaged on the Plains of Abraham amounted to three 
thousand five hundred men ; and not more than fifteen hundred are stated to 
have been detached under Bougainville, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



331 



by the batteries on shore, as to render a station near ^"'^^•^^ 
the town ineligible. 

The English general, sensible of the impracticability 
of reducing Quebec, unless he should be enabled to 
erect his batteries on the north side of the St. Law- 
rence, determined to use his utmost endeavours to 
bring Montcalm to an engagement. After several 
unavailing attempts to draw that able officer from his 
advantageous position, Wolfe resolved to pass the 
Montmorency, and to attack him in his entrench- 
ments. 

In consequence of this resolution, thirteen compa- 
nies of British grenadiers, and part of the second bat- 
talion of royal Americans, were landed near the 
mouth of the Montmorency, under cover of the can- 
non of the ships ; while two divisions, under generals 
Townshend and Murray, prepared to cross that river 
higher up. The original plan was to make the first 
attack on a detached redoubt close to the water's 
edge, apparently unprotected by the fire from the 
entrenchments, in the hope that Montcalm might be 
induced to support this work, and thereby enable 
Wolfe to bring on a general engagement.* 

On the approach of the British troops, this redoubt 
was evacuated. Observing some confusion in the 
French camp, Wolfe determined to avail himself of 
the supposed impression of the moment, and to storm 
the lines. With this view, he directed the grenadiers 
and royal Americans to form on the beach, where 

• Belsham. 



38S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP xiT they were to wait until the whole army could be ar- 
ranged to sustain them. Orders were at the same 
time dispatched to Townshend and Murray to be in 
readiness for fording the river. 

The grenadiers and royal Americans, disregarding 
their orders, rushed forward, with impetuous valour 
on the entrenchments of the enemy. They were re- 
ceived with so steady and well supported a fire, 
that they were thrown into confusion, and compelled 
to retreat. The general advancing in person with the 
remaining brigades, the fugitives formed again in the 
The Eng- rear of the ariuv ; but the plan of the attack was 
repulsed, effectually disconcerted, and the Enghsh commander 
gave orders for re-passing the river, and returning to 
the island of Orleans. 

Convinced by this disaster of the impracticability 
of approaching Quebec on the side of the Montmo- 
rency, Wolfe again turned his whole attention to the 
St. Lav\ rence. To destroy some ships of war lying 
in the river, and at the same time to distract the at- 
tention of Montcalm by descents at different places, 
tw elve hundred men were embarked in transports un- 
der the command of general Murray, who made two 
vigorous, but unsuccessful attempts, to land on the 
northern shore. In the third he vvas more fortunate. 
In a sudden descent on Chambaud, he burnt a valua- 
ble ma; azine filled with military stores, but was still 
unable to accomplish the main object of the expedi- 
tion. The ships were secured in such a manner as 
not to be approached by the fleet or army. Murray 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 333 



was recalled ; and on his return brought with him the 
intelligence that Niagara was taken, that Ticonde- 
roga and Crown Point had been abandoned, and that 
general Amherst was making preparations to attack 
the isle Aux Noix.* 

This intelligence, though joyfully received, pro- 
mised no immediate assistance ; and the season for 
action was rapidly wasting away.f Nor was it easy 
for Wolfe to avoid contrasting the success of the Bri- 
tish arms under other auspices, with the ill fortune 
attending his own. 

A council of war having determined that all their 
future efforts should be directed towards effecting a 
landing above the town, the troops were withdrawn 
from the island of Orleans, and embarked on board 
the fleet. Some of them were landed at Point Levi, 
and the residue carried higher up the river.f 

Montcalm could not view this movement without 
alarm. That part of Quebec, v\ hich faces the coun- 
try, had not been well fortified : and he was appre- 
hensive that a landing might be effected high up the 
river, and the town approached on its weak side. At 
the same time, he could not safely relinquish his posi- 
tion, because the facility of transportation which the 
command of the water gave the English, would ena- 
ble them to seize the ground he then occupied, should 
his army be moved above the town. 

Thus embarrassed, he detached Monsieur de Bou- 

* Btlsham. Russel. t Bilsham. ± Belsham, 



CHAP. XII 



1759. 



334j history of the 

CHAP. XII ~gjj^y)]]g ^yjji^ fifteen hundred men, to watch the mo- 

1759. ° 

tions of the English, and to prevent their landing. 

In this state of things Wolfe formed the bold and 
hazardous plan of landing in the night, a small dis- 
tance above the city, on the northern bank of the 
river ; and, by scaling a precipice, accessible only by 
a narrow path, and therefore but weakly guarded, to 
gain the heights in the rear of the town. 

This resolution being taken, the admiral moved up 
the river, several leagues above the place where the 
landing was to be attempted, and made demonstra- 
tions of an intention to disembark a body of troops at 
different places. During the night, a strong detach- 
ment, in flat bottomed boats, fell silently down with 
the tide to the place fixed on for the descent. This 
was made an hour before day-break, about a mile 
above cape Diamond, Wolfe being the first man 
who leaped on shore. The Highlanders and light 
infantry, who composed the van, under the particular 
command of colonel Howe, had been directed to se- 
cure a four gun battery defending an intrenched path 
by which the heights were to be ascended, and to 
cover the landing of the remaining troops. The vio- 
lence of the current forced them rather below the 
point of disembarkation ; a circumstance which in- 
creased their difficulties. However, scrambling up 
the precipice, they gained the heights, and quickly 
dispersed the guard. The whole army followed up 
this narrow pass ; and, having encountered only a 
scattering fire from some Canadians and Indians, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 335 

gained the summit by the break of day, when the <"^^ap^xii 
several corps were formed under their respective 
leaders.* 

The intelligence that the English had gained the 
heights of Abraham was soon conveyed to Montcalm, 
.who comprehended at once the full force of the ad- 
vantage obtained by his adversary, and prepared for 
the engagement which could no longer be avoided. 
Leaving his camp at Montmorency, he crossed the 
St. Charles, for the purpose of attacking the English 
army.f 

This movement was made in the view of Wolfe, 
who immediately formed his order of batUe. His 
right wing was commanded by general Monckton, 
and his left by general Murray. The right flank was 
covered by the Louisbourg grenadiers, and the rear 
and left by the light infantry of Howe. The reserve 
consisted of Webb's regiment, drawn up in eight sub- 
divisions, with large intervals between them. 

Montcalm had formed his two wings of European 
and colonial troops in nearly equal numbers. A co- 
lumn of Europeans composed his centre ; and two 
small field pieces were brought up to play on the 
English line. In this order he marched to the attack, 
advancing in his front about fifteen hundred militia 
and Indians, who kept up an irregular and galling fire 
under cover of the bushes. 

The movements of the French indicating an inten- 
tion to flank his left, general Wolfe ordered the bat- 

• Belsham. Russel. f Townshend's letter. 



336 . HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XII talion of Amherst, and the two battalions of royal 

1759 

Americans, to that part of his line ; where they were 
formed en potence under "general Townshend, pre- 
senting a double front. Disres^arding the fire of the 
militia and Indians, he ordered his troops to reserve 
themselves for the column advancing in the rear of 
these irregulars. 
Battle on Moucalm had taken post on the left of the French 
ot Abra- army, and Wolfe on the right of the British ; so that 
the tv\o generals met each other, at the head of their 
respective troops ; and there the battle was most se- 
vere. The French advanced briskly to the charge, 
and commenced the action with great animation. 
The English reserved their fire until the enemy were 
within forty yards of them, when they gave it with 
immense effect. The action was kept up for some 
time with great spirit. Wolfe, advancing at the head 
of his grenadiers with charged bayonets, received a 
Death of mortal wound and soon afterwards expired. Undis- 
mayed by the loss of their general, the English con- 
tinued their exertions under Monckton, on whom the 
command devolved. He also received a ball through 
his body, and general Townshend took command of 
3„,j of ^he British army. About the same time Montcalm 
Montcalm, received a mortal wound, and general Senezergus, 
the second in command, also fell. The left wing 
and centre of the French began to give way ; and, 
being pressed close by the British, were driven from 
the field. 

On the left and rear of the English, the action was 






AMERICAN COLONIES. 337 

less severe. The lit^lit infantry had been placed in chap, xii 
houses ; and colonel Howe, the better to support 
them, had taken post still farther to the left, behind 
a copse. As the right of the French attacked the 
English left, he sallied from this position, upon their 
flanks, and threw them into disorder. In this criti- 
cal moment, Townshend advanced several platoons 
against their front, and completely frustrated the at- 
tem|)t to turn the lefr flank. 

In this state of the action, Townshend was inform- 
ed that the command had devolved on him. Pro- 
ceeding instantly to the centre, he found that part of 
the army thrown into some disorder by the ardour of 
pursuit; and his immediate efforts were employed in 
restoring the line. Scarcely was this effected, when 
Monsieur de Bougainville, who had been detached as 
high as caj)e Rouge to prevent a landing above, and 
who, on hearing that the English had gained the 
plains of Abraham, hastened to the assistance of,i,eEugi,si,. 
Montcalm, appeared in the rear at the head of fifteen 
hundred men. Fortunately for the English, the right 
wing of the French, as well as their left and centre, 
had been entirely broken, and driven off" the field,. 
Two battalions and two pieces of artillery being ad- 
vanced towards Bougainville, he retired; and Towns- 
hend did not think it advisable to risk the important 
advantages already gained, by pursuing this fresh 
body of troops through a difficult country.* 

In this decisive battle, nearly equal numbers ap- 

• Townshend's letter. Belsharo. Kussel, Gazelle. 

Uu 



338 HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP. Xll 



pear to have been engaged. The English however 
possessed this immense advantage; — they were all ve- 
terans ; while not more than half the French were of 
the same description. This circumstance would 
lead to an opinion that some motive, not well ex- 
plained, must have induced Montcalm to hazard an 
action before he was assured of being joined by Bou- 
gainville. 

The French regulars were almost entirely cut to 
pieces. The loss of the English was not so consi- 
derable as the fierceness of the action would indicate. 
The killed and wounded were less than six hundred 
men ; but among the former, was the commander in 
chief. This gallant officer, whose rare merit, and 
lamented fate, have presented a rich theme for pane- 
gyric to both the poet and historian, received a ball 
in his wrist in the commencement of the action; but, 
wrapping a handkerchief around his arm, he con- 
tinued to encourage his troops. Soon afterwards he 
received a shot in the groin, which he also conceal- 
ed ; and was advancing at the head of the grenadiers, 
when a third bullet pierced his breast. Though ex- 
piring, it was with reluctance he permitted himself to 
be carried into the rear, where he displayed, in the 
agonies of death, the most anxious solicitude con- 
cerning the fate of the day. Being told that the enemy 
was visibly broken, he reclined his head, from ex- 
treme faintness, on the arm of an officer standing near 
him ; but was soon roused with the distant cry of 
" they fly, they fly." " Who fly ?" exclaimed the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. ;339 

dvino- hero. On beinar answered " the French. "H1AL2EU 
"Then," said he, '* I depart content;" and, almost 
immediately expired. *' A death more glorious," 
adds Mr. Belsham, " and attended with circum- 
stances more picturesque and interesting, is no where 
to be found in the annals of history." 

The less fortunate, but not less gallant Montcalm 
expired on the same day. The same love of glory, 
and the same fearlessness of death, which so remark- 
ably distinguished the British hero, were equally con- 
spicuous in his competitor for victory and for fame. 
He expressed the highest satisfaction on hearing that 
his wound was mortal ; and when told that he could 
survive only a few hours, quickly replied, " so much 
the better, I shall not then live to see the surrender 
of Quebec."* 

The first days after the action were employed by 
general Townshend in making preparations for the 
siege of Quebec. But before his batteries were 
opened, the town capitulated : on condition that the Quebec ca- 
inhabitants should, during the war, be protected in ^' " ^ 
the free exercise of their religion, and the full enjoy- 
ment of their civil rights, leaving their future destinies 
to be decided by the treaty of peace. 

Quebec was garrisoned by ab(jut five thousand 
English, under the command of general Murray ; and 
the fleet sailed from the St. Lawrence. 

The English minister, aware of the importance of 
completing the work thus fortunately begun, was not 

• Russel. 



340 HISTORY OF THE 

cv\p XII ^,f g temper to relax his exertions. His letters to the 

17b9. 

governors of the several colonies contained declara- 
tions of his intention to employ a strong military force 
for the ensuing year, and exhortations to them to con- 
tinue their efforts for the annihilation of the French 
power in Canada. These exhortations were accom- 
panied with assurances that he would again apply to 
parliament to reimburse their future extraordinary 
expenses ; and were productive of the desired effect. 
The several assemblies voted the same number of 
troops, and amount of supplies, as had been furnish- 
ed the preceding year. 

In the mean time the governor of New France, 
and the general of the army, made great exertions to 
retrieve their affairs, and to avert the ruin which 
threatened them. 

The remaining European troops were collected 
about Montreal; \^ here they were reinforced with 
six thousand militia, and a body of Indians. Mon- 
sieur de Levi, on whom the command had devolved, 
determined to attempt the recovery of Quebec, be- 
fore the opening of the St. Lawrence should enable 
the FiUglish to reinforce the garrison, and to afford it 
the protection of their fleet. But the out-posts being 
found too strong to admit of his carrying the place by 
a coup de main, he uas under the necessity of post- 
poning the execution of this design, until the upper 
part of the St. Laurence should open, and afford a 
transportation by water, for his artillery and military 
stores. ^ 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 341 

In the month of April these were embarked atCHAPXii 

• • ... i'6o 

Montreal, under convoy of six frigates; which, saihns^ a icmptto 

doun the St. Lawrence, while the army marched by Quebec. 

land, reached Point au TrenU^le in ten days. 

To avoid the hardships and dangers of a siege in 
a town too extensive to be defended by his sickly gar- 
rison, and inhabited by persons known to be hostile, 
Murray took the bold resolution of hazarding a bat- 
tle. Having formed this determination, he led out 
his garrison to the heights ot Abraham, and attacked 
the French near Sillery. He w as received with un- Q.^^^^g ^eai 
expected firmness ; and, perceiving that his utmost '^''''^''^' 
efforts could make no impression, he called off his 
army, and retired into the city. In this fierce en- 
counter, the English loss amounted to near one thou- 
sand men ; and they represent that of the French to 
have been not less considerable. 

Monsieur de Levi improved his victory to the ut- Quebec 
most. His trenches were opened before the town, ^'^"'sed- 
on the same evening ; but such was the difficulty of 
bringing up his heavy artillery, that near a foruiight 
elapsed before he could mount his batteries, and 
bring his guns to bear on the city. The batteries 
had been opened but a few days, when the garrison 
was relieved from its perilous situation, by the arrival 
of a British fleet. 

Quebec being secure. Monsieur de Levi raised the 
siege, and retired to Montreal. 

During these transactions, general Amherst was 
taking measures for the annihilation of the remnant of 



34S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xn iTrpnrh power in Canada. He determined to employ 
the immense force under his command for the accom- 
phshment of this object, and made arrancjements, 
during' the winter, to bring the armies from Quebec, 
lake Champlain, and lake Ontario, to act against Mon- 
treal. 

The preparations being completed, the commander 
in chief marched at the head of upwards often thou- 
sand British and provincials, from the frontiers of 
New York to Oswego, where he was joined by sir 
William Johnson, with one thousand Indians. He 
embarked his army at that place, and proceeded down 
the St. Lawrence to Montreal. 

Murray, w ho had been directed to advance up the 
river to the same point, with as many men as could 
be spared from Quebec, appeared below the town on 
the very day that Amherst approached it from above. 
The two generals found no difficulty in disembarking 
their troops, and the whole plan of co-operation had 
been so well concerted that, in a short time, they were 
joined by colonel Haviland with the detachment from 
Crown Point, 

The junction of these armies presenting before 
Montreal a force not to be resisted, the governor oft'er- 
Montreai ed to capitulatc. In the month of September, Mon- 
treal, and all other places within the government of 
Canada, then remaining in the possession of France, 
were surrendered to his Britannic majesty. The 
troops were to be transported to France, and the Ca- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 348 

nadians to be protected in their property, and the full ^^-^^ ^" 
enjoyment of their religion.* 

That colossal power, which France had been long 
erecting in America, ^vith vast labour and expense; 
which had been the motive for one of the most exten- 
sive and desolating wars of modern times ; was thus 
entirely overthrown. The causes of this interestinsr 
event are to be found in the superior wealth and popu- 
lation of the colonies of England, and in her immense 
naval strength ; an advantage, in distant war, not to 
be counterbalanced by the numbers, the discipline, 
the courage, and the military talents, which may be 
combined in the armies of an inferior maritime power. 

The joy diffused throughout the British dominions 
by this splendid conquest, was mingled with a proud 
sense of superiority which did not estimate with exact 
justice, the relative means employed by the bellige- 
rents. In no part of those dominions was this joy 
felt, in a higher degree, or with more reason, than in 
America. In that region, the wars between France 
and England had assumed a form, happily unknown 
to other parts of the civilised world. Not confined, 
as in Europe, to men in arms ; women and children 
were its common victims. It had been carried by 
the savage to the fire side of the peaceful peasant, 
where the tomahawk and scalping knife were applied 
indiscriminately to every age, and to either sex. The 
hope was now fondly indulged that these scenes, at 

• Minot. Belknap. Belsham. Russel. 



344! HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XII ]gagt i„ ti^g northern and middle colonies, were closed 

1760. ' 

for ever. 

The colonies of South Carolina and Georgjia had 
been entirely exempted from the sharp conflicts of 
the north. France having been unable to draw Spain 
into the war, their neighbours in Florida remained 
quiet : and the Indians on their immediate frontiers 
were in the English interest. As the prospect of es- 
tablishing peace in the north seemed to brighten, this 
state of repose in the south sustained a short interrup- 
tion. 

When the garrison of fort Du Qaesne retired down 
the Ohio into Louisiana, the French employed their 
address in the management of Indians, to draw the 
Cherokees from their alliance with Great Britain. 
Their negotiations with these savages were favoured 
by the irritations given to their warriors in Virginia, 
where they had been employed against the French, 
and the Indians in the French interest. 

Their ill humour began to show itself in 1759. 
Upon its first appearance, governor Lyttleton prepared 
to march into their country at the head of a respecta- 
ble military force. Alarmed at diese hostile appear- 
ances, they dispatched thirty -two of their chiefs to 
Charleston, for the purpose of deprecating the ven- 
geance vvith which their nation was threatened. 
Their pacific representations did not arrest the expe- 
dition. The governor not only persisted in the en- 
terprise, but, under the pretext of securing the safe 
return of the Indian messengers, took them into the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. B^5 

train of his army, where they were, in reality, con- chapxii 
fined as prisoners. To add to this indignity, they 
were, when arrived at the place of destination, shut 
up together in a single hut. 

Notwithstanding the irritation excited by this con- 
duct, a treaty was concluded, in which it was agreed 
that the chiefs detained by the governor should re- 
main with him as hostages, until an equal number of 
those who had committed murder on the frontiers, 
should be delivered in exchange for them ; and that, 
in the meantime, the Indians should seize and deliver 
up every white or red man coming into their country, 
who should endeavour to excite them to war against 
the English. After making this accommodation, the 
governor returned to Charleston, leaving his hostages 
prisoners in fort Prince George. 

Scarcely had the army retired, when the Cherokees 
began to contrive plans for the relief of their chiefs. 
In an attempt to execute these plans, they killed the 
captain of the fort and wounded two officers. Orders 
were immediately given to put the hostages in irons ; 
an indignity so resented by these fierce savages, that 
the first persons who attempted to execute the orders 
were stabbed. The soldiers enraged at this resis- 
tance, fell on the hostages and massacred them. 

Inflamed to madness by this event, the whole na- War with 

IT 1 • 1 T I 1 '^^ SOUtU- 

tion flew to arms ; and, according to their established emindians. 
mode of warfare, wreaked their fury on the inhabi- 
tants of the country in indiscriminate murder. 

Mr. Bull, on whom the government of the province 
X X 



316 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiii^af^ devolved, represented the distresses of South Ca- 
rolina in such strong terms to general Amherst, that 
colonel Montgomery was ordered into that colony with 
a detachment of regular troops. He arrived in April; 
but, as all the forces would be required in the north, 
in order to complete the conquest of Canada, he was 
directed to strike a sudden blow, and to return to New 
York in time for the expedition against Montreal. 

The utmost exertions were made by the colony in 
aid of colonel Montgomery, and he entered the Che- 
rokee country with all the forces that could be col- 
lected. Their lower towns were destroyed ; but, near 

Battle near the village of Etchoe, the first of their middle settle- 
ments, m an almost impenetrable wood, he was met 
by a large body of savages, and a severe action en- 
sued. The English claimed the victory, but without 
much reason. They were so roughly handled, that 
colonel Montgomery withdrew his army, and retired 
to fort Prince George, at which place he prepared to 
embark for New York. 

The consternation of the province was the greater, 
as serious fears were entertained that the Creeks 
and Choctaws, might be induced by the French to 
join the Cherokees. Colonel Montgomery was press- 
ed in the most earnest manner, not to leave the pro- 
vince ; and was, with difficulty, prevailed on to per- 
, mit four companies to remain, while, with the main 
body of his detachment, he returned to New York. 
17G1. Mean while, the war continued to rnge. The sa- 
vages surrounded fort Loudoun ; and the garrison 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 347 



CHAP.XI T 

1701. 



amounting to four hundred men, was compelled by 
fanrsine to surrender, on condition of being permitted 
to march into the settlements. The Indians, who re- 
gard conventions no longer than they are useful, at- 
tacked the garrison on its march, killed a number, 
and made the residue prisoners. Carolina again ap- 
plied to general Amherst for assistance, who having 
completed the conquest of Canada, had leisure to at- 
tend to the southern colonies. Late in May, a strong 
detachment, commanded by colonel Grant, arrived at 
fort Prince George ; and the colony raised a body of 
provincials, and of friendly Indians, to join him. 

Early in June, he marched for the Cherokee towns. 
Near the place where the action had been fought the 
preceding year by Montgomery, the Indians again as- 
sembled in force, and gave battle in defence of their 
country. The action commenced about eight in the 
morning, and was maintained with spirit until eleven, 
when the Cherokees began to give way. They were 
pursued for two or three hours, after which Grant 
marched to the adjacent village of Etchoe, which he Indians de- 
reduced to ashes. All the towns of the middle set- 
tlement shared the same fate. Their houses and 
corn fields were destroyed, and the whole country 
laid waste. Reduced to extremity, they sued sincere- 
ly for peace ; and, in the course of the summer, the 
war was terminated by a treaty.* 

It was not in America only that the vigour presid- 
ing in the councils of Britain shed lustre on the British 

• History of South Carolina and Georgia. 



348 HISTORY OF THE 

£IiiL^arms. Splendid conquests were also made in Asia 
and Africa ; and in Europe, her aids of men and 
money enabled the greatest monarch of his age to 
surmount difficulties which only Frederick and Mr. 
Pitt could have dared to encounter. 
1762. At length, Spain, alarmed at the increase of British 
power in America, and apprehensive for the safety of 
her own dominions, determined to take part against 
Great Britain; and, early in the year 1762, the two 
crowns declared war against each other. It was pro- 
secuted, on the part of Great Britain, with signal suc- 
cess ; and, in the course of the year, Martinique, Gra- 
nada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and all the Caribbee 
Islands were wrested from France ; and the very im- 
portant city of Havanna, which in a great degree 
commands the gulph of Mexico, was taken from 
Spain. 

This course of conquest, which no force in posses- 
sion of France and Spain seemed capable of checking, 
while any of their distant possessions remained to be 
subdued, was arrested by preliminary articles of 
peace signed at Paris. 

By thi? treaty, his christian majesty ceded to Bri- 
tain, all the conquests made by that power on the con- 
tinent of North America, together with the river and 
port of Mobile ; and all the territory to which Francs 
was entitled on the left bank of the Mississippi, re- 
serving only the island of New Orleans. And it was 
agreed that, for the future, the confines between the 
dominions of the two crowns, in that quarter of the 



AMERICAN COLONIES 34)9 

world, should be irrevocably fixed by a line drawn ohap.xii 
along the middle of the Mississippi, from its source 
as far as the river Iberville, and thence, by a line 
drawn along the middle of that river, and of the lakes 
Maiirepas and Pont Chartrain, 

The Havanna was exchanged with Spain for the 
Floridas. By establishing these great natural boun- 
daries to the British empire in North America, all, 
causes of future contest respecting that continent, with 
any potentate of Europe, were supposed to be re- 
moved. 



3fj0 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP xm . 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Opinions on the supremacy of parliament^ a??d its right 
to tax the colonies. — The stamp act. — Congress at 
JVeiv York. — Violence i?i the towns. — Change of 
administration. — Stamp act repealed. — Opposition 
to the mutiny act. — Act imposing duties on tea, £s?c. 
resisted in America. — Letters from the assembly of 
Massachusetts to members of the administration. — 
Petition to the King. — Circular letter to the colo- 
nial assemblies. — Letter from the Earl of Hills- 
borough. — Assembly of Massachusetts dissolved. — 
Seizure of the Sloop Liberty. — Convention at Fa- 
nueil Hall. — Moderation of its proceedings. — Two 
British regiments arrive at Boston. — Resolutions of 
the house of Burgesses of Virginia. — Assembly dis- 
solved. — The members form an association. — Gene- 
ral measures against importation. — General court 
convened in Massachusetts.^— Its proceedings. — Is 
prorogued. — Duties^ except that on tea, repealed. — 
Circular letter of the earl of Hillsborough. — Nexv 
York recedes from the ?ion- importation agreement ifi 
part. — Her example followed. — Riot in Boston, — 
Trial and acquittal of Capain Preston. 

S763. 1" jj £ attachment of the colonies to the mother coun- 
try was never stronger than at the signature of the 



« 
AMERICAN COLONIES. 351 

treaty of Paris.* The union of that tract of country ^"^^^"^' 
\vhich extends from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, 
and from the gulph of Mexico to the north pole, w as 
deemed a certain guarantee of future peace, and an 
effectual security against the return of those bloody 
scenes from which no condition in life could aftbrd an 
exemption. 

This state of things, long and anxiously wished for 
by British America, had, at length, been effected by 
the union of British and American arms. The sol- 
diers of the parent state and her colonies had co-ope- 
rated in the same service, their blood had mingled in 
the same plains, and the object pursued was common 
to both people. 

While the British nation was endeared to the Ame- 
ricans by this community of danger, and identity of 
interest, the brilliant achievements of the war had 
exalted to enthusiasm their admiration of British va- 
lour. They were proud of the land of their ances- 
tors, and gloried in their descent from Englishmen. 

* After the expulsion of the French from Canada, a considerable degree 
of ill humour was manifested in Massachusetts with respect to tlie manner in 
which the laws of trade wei-e executed. A question was agitated in court, in 
wliich the colony took a very deep interest. A custom house officer applied 
for wha^. was termed " a writ of assistance," which was an authority to search 
any house for dutiable articles suspected to be concealed in it. The right to 
grant special warrants was not contested ; but this grant of a general warrant 
was deemed contrary to the principles of hbertyj and an engine of oppression 
equally useless and vexatious, which would enable every petty officer of the 
customs to gratify his resentments by harrassing the most respectable men in 
the province. The ill temper excited an this occasion was shown by a reduc- 
tion of the salaries of the judges ; but no diminution of attachment to the mother 
country appears to have been produced by it 



303 HISTORY OP THE 

^SAf;^ But this sentiment was not confined to the military 
character of the nation. While the excellence oi 
the English constitution was a rich theme of decla- 
mation, every colonist believed himself entitled to its 
advantages ; nor could he admit that, by crossing the 
Atlantic, his ancestors had relinquished the essential 
rights of British subjects. 

The degree of authority which might rightfully be 
exercised by the mother country over her colonies, 
had never been accurately defined. In Britain, it 
had always been asserted that Parliament possessed 
the power of binding them in all cases whatever. In 
America, at different times, and in different provinces, 
different opinions had been entertained on this subject. 

In New England, originally settled by republicans, 
habits of independence had nourished the theory that 
the colonial assemblies possessed every legislative 
power not surrendered by compact ; that the Ameri- 
cans were subjects of the British crown, but not of 
the nation ; and were bound by no laws to which 
their representatives had not assented. From this 
high ground they had been compelled reluctantly to 
recede. The Judges, being generally appointed by 
the governors w ith the advice of council, had deter- 
mined that the colonies were bound by acts of par- 
liament which concerned them, and which were ex- 
pressly extended to them ; and the general court of 
Massachusetts had, on a late occasion, explicitly re- 
cognised the same principle. This had probably 
become the opinion of many of the best informed 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



353 



men of the province ; but the doctrine seems still to chap, xm 
have been extensively maintained, that acts of parlia- 
ment possessed only an external oblis^ation ; that they 
might resjulate commerce, but not the internal aftairs 
of the colonies. 

In the year 1692, the sjeneral court of Massachu- 
setts passed an act, denyin^^ the right of any other 
legislature to impose any tax whatever on the colony; 
and also asserting those principles of national liberty, 
which are found in Magna Charta. Not long after- 
wards, the legislature of New York, probably with a 
view only to the authority claimed by the governor, 
passed an act in which its own supremacy, not only 
in ^natters of taxation, but of general legislation, is 
expressly affirmed. Both these acts however were 
disapproved in England ; and the parliament asserted 
its authority, in 1696, by declaring " that all laws, bye 
laws, usages, and customs, which shall be in practice 
in any of the plantations, repugnant to any law made 
or to be made in this kingdom relative to the said 
plantations, shall be void and of none effect." And 
three years afterwards, an act was passed for the trial 
of pirates in America, in which is to be found the fol- 
lowing extraordinary clause. *' Be it farther declared 
that, if any of the governors, or any person or per- 
sons in authority there, shall refuse to yield obedience 
to this act, such refusal is hereby declared to be a 
forfeiture of all and every the charters granted for the 
government and propriety of such plantations." 

The English statute book furnishes many instances 
Y V 



354 HISTORY OF THE 

ciup xiTi in which the legislative power of parliament over the 
1763. , . 1 , , • 1 , . 

colonies was extended to regulations completely in- 
ternal ; and it is not recollected that their authority 
was in any case, openly controverted. 

In the middle and southern provinces, no question 
respecting the supremacy of parlianent, in matters of 
general legislation, ever existed. The authority of 
such acts of internal regulation as were made for 
America, as well as of those for the regulation of com- 
merce, even by the imposition of duties, provided 
those duties were imposed for the purpose of regula- 
tion, had been at all times admitted. But these co- 
lonies, however they might acknowledge the supre- 
macy of parliament in other respects, denied the 
right of that body to tax them internally. 

Their submission to the act for establishing a 
general post office, \^hich raised a revenue on the 
carriage of letters, was not thought a dereliction of 
this principle ; because that regulation was not con- 
sidered as a tax, but as a compensation for a service 
rendered, which every person might accept or de- 
cline. And all the duties on trade were understood 
to be imposed, rather with a view to prevent foreign 
commerce, than to raise a revenue. Perhaps the le- 
gality of such acts was the less questioned, because 
they were not rigorously executed, and their violation 
was sometimes designedly overlooked. A scheme 
for taxing the colonies by authority of parliament had 
been formed so early as the year 1739, and recom- 
mended to government by a club of American mer- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 355 

chants, at whose head was sir William Keith, gover- chap, xm 
nor of Pennsylvania. In this scheme, it was proposed 
to raise a body of regulars, to be stationed alon^r the 
western frontier of the British settlements, for the pro- 
tection of the Indian traders; the expense of which 
establishment was to be paid with monies arising 
from a duty on stamped paper and parchment in all 
the colonies. This plan, however, was not counte- 
nanced by those in power ; and seems never to have 
been seriously taken up by the government until the 
year 1754. The attention of the minister was then 
turned to a plan of taxation by authority of Parlia- 
ment; and it will be recollected that a system was 
devised and recommended by him, as a substitute for 
the articles of union proposed by the convention at 
Albany. The temper and opinion of the colonists, 
and the impolicy of irritating them at a crisis v\hich 
required all the exertions they were capable of mak- 
ing, suspended this delicate and dangerous measure; 
but it seems not to have been totally abandoned. Of 
the right of Parliament, as the supreme legislature, 
of the nation, to tax as well as govern the colonies, 
those who guided the councils of Britain seem not to 
have entertained a doubt ; and the language of men 
in power, on more than one occasion through the 
war, indicated a disposition to put this right in prac- 
tice when the termination of hostilities should render 
the experiment less dangerous. The failure of some 
of the colonies, especially those in which a proprie- 
tary government was established, to furnish, in time, 



356 HISTORY OF THE 

^Hi^^JHI the aids required of them, contributed to foster this 

1/63. . . . ^ ^ _ 

disposition. This opposition of opinion on a subject 
tlie most interesting to the human heart, was about 
to produce a system of measures which tore asunder 
all the bonds of relationship and affection that had 
subsisted for ages, and planted almost inextinguish- 
able hatred in bosoms where the warmest friendship 
had Ions: been cultivated. 
1764. Xhe unexampled expenses of the war required a 
great addition to the regular taxes of the nation. Con- 
siderable diffic'.ilty was found in searching out new 
sources of revenue, and great opposition was made 
to every tax proposed. Thus embarrassed, adminis- 
tration directed its attention to the continent of North 
America. The system which had been laid aside 
was reneu ed ; and, on the motion of Mr. Grenville, 
first commissioner of the treasury, a resolution passed 
without much debate, declaring that it would be 
proper to impose certain stamp duties in the colonies 
and plantations, for the purpose of raising a revenue 
in America, payable into the British exchequer. 
This resolution was not carried into immediate effect, 
and was only declaratory of an intention to be execut- 
ed the ensuing year.* 

Other resolutions were passed at the same time, 
laying new duties on the trade of the colonies, which 
being in the form of commercial regulations, were 
not generally contested on the ground of right, though 
imposed expressly for the purpose of raising revenue. 

• Belsham. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 357 



CHAP.Xin 

1764. 



Great disgust, however, was produced by the in- 
crease of the duties, by the new regulations which 
were made, and by the manner in which those regu- 
lations were to be executed. The gainful commerce 
long carried on clandestinely with the French and 
Spanish colonies, in the progress of which an evasion 
of the duties imposed by law had been overlooked 
by the government, was to be rigorously suppressed 
by taxes amounting to a prohibition of fair trade ; and 
their, exact collection was to be enforced by measures 
not much less offensive in themselves, than on ac- 
count of the object to be effected.* 

Completely to prevent smuggling, all the officers in 
the sea service, who were on the American station, 
were converted into revenue officers ; and directed to 
take the custom house oaths. Many vexatious seizures 
were made, for which no redress could be obtained, 
but in England. The penalties and forfeitures toe 
accruing under the act, as if the usual tribunals could 
not be trusted, were made recoverable in any court of 
vice-admiralty in the colonies. It will be readily con- 
ceived, how odious, a law, made to effect an odious 
object, must have been rendered by such provisions 
as these. 

The resolution concerning the duties on stamps i765. 
excited a great and general ferment in America. The 
right of parliament to impose taxes on the colonies 
for the purpose of raising a revenue, became the sub- 
ject of universal conversation, and was almost uni- 

" Behham. Minof 



358 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XIII versally denied. Petitions to the Kini^, and memo- 
rials to both houses of parliament ai>;ainst the measure, 
were transmitted by several of the provincial assem- 
blies to the board of trade in England, to be presented 
to his majesty immediately ; and to parliament, when 
that body should be convened. The house of repre- 
sentatives of Massachusetts instructed their agent to 
use his utmost endeavours to prevent the passage of 
the stamp act, or any other act levying taxes or im- 
positions of any kind on the American provinces. A 
committee was appointed to act in the recess of the 
general court, with instructions to correspond with the 
legislatures of the several colonies, to communicate 
to them the instructions given to the agent of Massa- 
chusetts, and to solicit their concurrence in similar 
measures. These legislative proceedings were, in 
many places, seconded by associations entered into 
by individuals, for diminishing the use of British 
manufactures.* 

The administration, perceiving the opposition to 
be encountered by adhering to the vote of the preced- 
ing session, informed the agents of the colonies in 
London that, if they would propose any other mode 
of raising the sum requiredf , their proposition would 
be accepted, and the stamp duty laid aside. The 
agents replied that they were not authorised to pro- 
pose any substitute, but were ordered to oppose the 
bill when it should be brought into the house, by 
petitions questioning the right of parliament to tax 

• Minot. t 100,000/. sterling. 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 359 

the colonies. This reply placed the controversy on ^"'^^.^^^- 
ground which admitted of no compromise. Deter- 
mined to persevere in the system he had adopted, 
and believinpj successful resistance to be impossible, 
Mr. Grenville brought into parliament his celebrated 
act for imposing stamp duties in America ; and it 
passed both houses by great majorities, but not with- 
out animated debate. So little weight does the hu- 
man mind allow to the most conclusive arguments, 
when directed against the existence of power in our- 
selves, that general Conway is said to have stood 
alone* in denying the right claimed by parliament. 

This act excited serious alarm throughout the colo- 
nies. It was sincerely believed to wound vitally the 
constitution of the country, and to destroy the most 
sacred principles of liberty. Combinations against 
its execution were formed ; and the utmost exertions 
were used to diffuse among the people a knowledge 
of the pernicious consequences which must flow from 
admitting that the colonists could be taxed by a le- 
gislature in which they were not represented. 

The assembly of Virginia was in session when the 
intelligence was received ; and, by a small majority, 
passed several resolutions introduced by Mr. Henry, 
and seconded by Mr. Johnson, f one of which asserts 

• Mr. Pitt was not in the house; and Mr. IngersoU, in his letter, states 
that Alderman Beckford joined general Conway. Mr. Belsham, therefore, 
who makes this statement, was probably mistaken. 

■f See note No. 3, at the end of the volume. 



7f 



360 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP xiiT . ti^e exclusive right of that assembly to lay taxes and 
impositions on the inhabitants of that colony.* 

On the passage of these resolutions, the governor 
dissolved the assembly ; and writs for new elections 
were issued. In almost every instance, the members 
who had voted in favour of the resolutions were re- 
elected, while those who had voted against them were 
generally excluded. 

The legislatures of several other colonies passed re- 
solutions similar to those of Virginia. The house of 
representatives of Massachusetts, contemplating a 
still more solemn and effectual expression of the ge- 
neral sentiment, recommended a congress of deputies 
from all the colonial assemblies, to meet at New 
"Vork the first Monday in October. Circular letters 
communicating this recommendation, were addressed 
to the respective assemblies wherever they were in 
session. New Hampshire alone, although concur- 
ring in the general opposition, declined sending 
members to the congress ; and the legislatures of 
Virginia and North Carolina were not in session. f 

In the meantime, the press teemed with the most 
animating exhortations to the people, to unite in de- 
fence of their liberty and property ; and the stamp 
officers were, almost universally, compelled to resign. 

At the time appointed, the commissioners from the 

assemblies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connec- 

Congressatticiit, Ncw York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the 

three lower counties on the Delaware, Maryland, and 

* Prior documents. Virginia Gazette. f Minot, 



# 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



SQi 



South Carolina assembled at New York ; and, having chap.xtti. 
chosen Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, their 
chairman, proceeded on the important objects for 
which they had convened. The first measure of 
congress was a declaration* of the rights and griev- 
ances of the colonists. This paper asserts their title 
to all the rights and liberties of natural born subjects 
within the kingdom of Great Britain; among the most 
essential of which are, the exclusive power to tax 
themselves, and the trial by jury. 

The act granting certain stamp and other duties in 
the British colonies was placed first on the list of 
grievances. Its direct tendency they said, was, by 
taxing the colonists without their consent, and by ex- 
tending the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, to sub- 
vert their rights and liberties. They also addressed 
a petition to the King, and a memorial to each house 
of parliament. 

These papers were drawn with .temperate firm- 
ness. They express, unequivocally, the attachment 
of the colonists to the mother country ; and assert 
the rights they claim in the earnest language of con- 
viction. 

Having, in addition to these measures, recommended 
to the several colonies to appoint special agents, with 
instructions to unite their utmost endeavours in soli- 
citing a redress of grievances ; and directed their 
clerk to make out a copy of their proceedings for each 
colony, congress adjourned. f 

• See note No. 4, at the end of the volume. t Minot. Prior documents. 

Zz 



363 HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP xiTi. 'jpy interest the people of Endand against the mea- 
sures of administration, associations were tormed tor 
the encouragement of domestic manufactures, and 
against the use of those imported from Great Britain. 
To increase their quantity of wool, the colonists de- 
termined to kill no lambs, and to use all the means in 
their power to multiply their flocks of sheep. To 
avoid the use of stamps, proceedings in the courts of 
justice were suspended ; and a settlement of all con- 
troversies by arbitration was strongly recommended. 
While this determined and systematic opposition 
M'as made by the thinking part of the community, 
Violence in somc riotous and disorderly meetings took place, es- 
towns!^^^ pecially in the large tow ns, which threatened serious 
consequences. Many houses were destroyed, much 
property injured, and several persons, highly respec- 
table in character and station, were grossly abused. 
Change of While these transactions were passing: in America, 

administia- _ ' ^. 

tion. causes entirely unconnected with the aflfairs of the co- 

lonies, produced a total revolution in the British cabi- 
net. The Grenville party was succeeded by an ad- 
ministration unfriendly to the plan for taxing the co- 
lonies without their consent. General Conway, one 
of the principal secretaries of state, addressed a cir- 
cular letter to the several governors, in which he cen- 
sured, in mild terms, the violent measures that had 
been adopted, and recommended to them, while 
they maintained the dignity of the crown and of par- 
liament, to observe a temperate and conciliatory con- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



363 



CHAPXm. 

1765. 



duct towards the colonists, arid to endeavour, by per- 
suasive means, to restore the pubhc peace. 

Parlianjent was opened by a speech from the throne, ^7^^- 
in which his majesty declared his firm confidence in 
their wisdom and zeal, which would, he doubted not, 
guide them to such sound and prudent resolutions, as 
might tend at once to preserve the constitutional 
rights of the British legislature over the colonies, and 
to restore to them that harmony and tranquillity which 
had lately been interrupted by disorders of the most 
dangerous nature.'' 

In the course of the debate in the house of com- 
mons, on the motion for the address, Mr. Pitt, in 
explicit terms, condemned the act for collecting stamp 
duties in America ; and avowed the opinion that par- 
liament had no right to tax the colonies. He assert- 
ed, at the same time, " the authority of that kingdom 
to be sovereign and supreme in every circumstance 
of government and legislation whatever." He main- 
tained the difficult proposition " that taxation is no 
part of the governing, or legislative power ; but that 
taxes are a voluntary gift and grant of the commons 
alone ;" and concluded an eloquent speech, by re- 
commending to the house, " that the stamp act be 
repealed, absolutely^ totally^ and immediately.^^ 

The opinions expressed by Mr. Pitt were warmly 
opposed by the late ministers. Mr. Grenville said, 
" that the disturbances in America were grov\ n to 
tumults and riots ; he doubted, they bordered on open 
rebellion ; and, if the doctrine he had heard that day 



repealed. 



364; HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP xm. should be confirmed, he feared they would lose that 

1766. ' •' , 

name to take that of revolution. Ihe government 
over them being dissolved, a revolution would take 
place in America." He contended that taxation was 
a part of the sovereign power ; — one branch of legis- 
lation ; and had been exercised over those who were 
not represented. He could not comprehend the dis- 
tinction between external and internal taxation ; and 
insisted that the colonies ought to bear a part of the 
burdens occasioned by a war for their defence. 
Stamp Rct The existing administration, however, concurred 
in sentiment with Mr. Pitt, and the act was repealed ; 
but its repeal was accompanied with a declaratory act, 
asserting the right of Great Britain to bind the colo- 
nies in all cases whatsoever. 

The intelligence of this event was received in 
America with general manifestations of joy. The 
assertion of the abstract principle of right gave many 
but little concern, because they considered it merely 
as a salvo for the wounded pride of the nation, and 
believed confidendy that no future attempt would be 
made to reduce it to practice. The highest honours 
were conferred on those parliamentary leaders who 
had exerted themselves to obtain a repeal of the act; 
and, in Virginia, the house of Burgesses voted a statue 
to his majesty, as an acknowledgment of their high 
sense of his attention to the rights and petitions of his 
people. 

Though all the colonies rejoiced at the repeal of 
the stamp act, the same temper did not prevail in all 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 365 

of them. In the commercial cities of the north, thp cHAPXiir . 

1766. 

regulations of trade, were nearly as odious as the 
stamp act itself. Political parties too had been form- 
ed, and had assumed a bitterness in some of the colo- 
nies, entirely unknown in others. These dispositions 
were not long concealed. The first measures of 
Massachusetts and of New York demonstrated that, 
in them, the reconciliation with the mother country 
was not cordial. 

The letter of secretary Conway, transmitting;^ the re- 
peal of the act imposing a duty on stamps, enclosed 
also a resolution of parliament declaring that those 
persons who had suffered injuries in consequence of 
their assisting to execute that act, ought to be com- 
pensated by the colony in which such injuries were 
sustained. This was chiefly in Massachusetts. The 
resolution of parliament was laid before the general 
court of that province, by governor Bernard, in a 
speech rather in the spirit of the late, than the present 
administration ; — rather calculated to irritate than 
assuage the angry passions that had been excited. 
The house of representatives resented his manner of 
addressing them ; and appeared more disposed to in- 
quire into the riots, and to compel those concerned 
in them to make indemnities, than to compensate the 
sufferers out of the public purse. But, after a second 
session, and some intimation that parliament would 
enforce its requisition, an act of pardon to the offen- 
ders, and of indemnity to the sufferers, was passed ; 
but was rejected by the King, because the colonial 



366 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xin. assembly had no power, by their charter, to pass an 
act of general pardon, but at the instance of the crown.* 

In New York, where general Gage was expected 
with a considerable body of troops, a message was 
transmitted by the governor to the legislature, desiring 
their compliance with an act of parliament called " the 
mutiny act," which required that the colony in which 
any of his majesty's forces might be stationed, should 
provide barracks for them, and necessaries in their 
quarters. The legislature postponed the considera- 
tion of this message until the troops were actually ar- 
rived ; and then, after a second message from the go- 
vernor, reluctantly and partially complied with the 
requisitions of the act. 

At a subsequent session, the governor brought the 
subject again before the assembly, who determined 
that the act of parliament could be construed only to 
require that provision should be made for troops on a 
march, and not while permanently stationed in the 
country.! The reason assigned for not furnishing 
the accommodations required by the governor, implies 
the opinion that the act of parliament was rightfully 
obligatory ; and yet the requisitions of the mutiny act 
were unquestionably a tax ; and no essential distinc- 
tion is perceived between the power of parliament to 
levy a tax by its own authority, and to levy it through 
the medium of the colonial legislatures ; they having 
no right to refuse obedience to the act. It is remark- 
able that such inaccurate ideas should still have pre- 

* Minot. f Minot. Prior documents. Belshatn. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 367 

vailed, concerning the controling power of parliament chap xni . 
over the colonies. 

In England it was thought to manifest a very for- 
bearing spirit, that this instance of disobedience was 
punished with no positive penalties ; and that the 
ministers contented themselves with a law prohibiting 
the legislature of the province from passing any act, 
until it should comply, in every respect, with the re- 
quisitions of parliament. The persevering temper of 
Massachusetts not having found its way to New 
York, this measure produced the desired effect. 

Two companies of artillery, driven into the port of 
Boston by stress of weather, applied to the governor 
for supplies. He laid the application before his coun- 
cil, who advised that, *' in pursuance of the act of 
parliament" thesupplies required should be furnished. 
They were furnished, and the money to procure them 
was drawn from the treasury by the authority of the 
executive. 

On the meeting of the legislature, the house of re- i767. 
presentatives expressed in pointed terms their disap- 
probation of the conduct of the governor. Particular 
umbrage was given by the expression " in pursuance 
of an act of parliament ^ " After the repeal of the 
stamp act, they were surprised to find that this act, 
equally odious and unconstitutional, shcjuld remain 
in force. They lamented the entry of this reason for 
the advice of council the more, as it was an unwar- 
rantable and unconstitutional step which totally dis- 
abled them from testifying the same cheerfulness they 



368 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIII. had always shown in granting to his majesty, of theii 
free accord, such aids as his service has from time 
to time required."* Copies of these messages were 
transmitted by governor Bernard to the minister, ac- 
companied by letters not calculated to diminish the 
unpleasantness of the communication. 

The idea of raising revenue in America, was so 
highly favoured in England, especially by the landed 
interest, that not even the influence of administration 
could have obtained a repeal of the stamp act, on the 
naked principle of right. Few were hardy enough 
to question the supremacy of parliament ; and the act 
receding from the practical assertion of the power to 
tax the colonists, deeply wounded the pride of the 
King, and of the nation. 

The temper discovered in some of the colonies was 
ill calculated to assuage the wound, which this 
measure had inflicted, on the haughty spirit of the 
countrv ; and is supposed to have contributed to the 
revival of a system, which had been reluctantly aban- 
doned. 

Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, 
said boastingly in the house of commons, " that he 
knew how to draw a revenue from the colonies with- 
out giving them offence.''-|- Mr. Grenville eagerly 
caught at the declaration, and urged this minister to 
pledge himself to bring forward the «neasure, at which 
he had hinted. During the sickness and absence of 
lord Chatham, the cabinet had decided on introduc- 

• Minot. t -Belsham. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 369 



ing a bill for imposing certain duties on tea, glass, 
paper, and painter^s colours, imported into the colo- 
nies from Great Britain ; and appropriating the money 
in the first instance, to the salaries of the officers of 
government. This bill was brought into parliament, 
and passed almost without opposition. 

The friends of America, in England, had distin- 
guished between internal and external taxation ; and 
the same distinction had been made in the colonies. 
But the discussions originating in the stamp act, 
while they diffused among the colonists a knowledge 
of their political rights, had inspired also more accu- 
rate ideas respecting them. 

These duties were plainly intended, not to regulate 
commerce, but to raise revenue, which would be as 
certainly collected from the colonists, as the duties on 
stamps could have been. The principle of the two 
measures was the same. Many of the Americans 
were too intelligent to be misguided by the distinc- 
tion between internal and external taxation, or by the 
precedents quoted in support of the right, for which 
parliament contended. This measure was consider- 
ed as establishing a precedent of taxation for the mere 
purpose of revenue, which might afterwards be ex- 
tended at the discretion of parliament ; and was spo- 
ken of as the entering wedge^ designed to make way 
for impositions too heavy to be borne. The appro- 
priation of the money did not lessen the odium of the 
tax. The colonists considered the dependence of the 
officers of government, on the colonial legislature, for 
3 A 



CHAP XII I. 

1767. 



370 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiTT. their salaries, as the best security for their attending- 
to the interests, and cultivating the aflfections of the 
provinces.* Yet the opinion that this act was uncon- 
stitutional, was not adopted so immediately, or so ge- 
nerally, as in the case of the stamp act. Many able 
political essays appeared in the papers, demonstrating 
that it violated the principles of the English constitu- 
tion and of English liberty, before the conviction be- 
came general, that the same principle which had be- 
fore been successfully opposed, was again approach- 
ing in a different form. 

The general court of Massachusetts, perceiving 
plainly that the claim to tax America was revived, 
and being determined to oppose it, addressed an ela- 
1768. borate letter to Dennis de Berdt, agent for the house 
of representatives, detailing at great length, and with 
much weight of argument, all the objections to the 
Letters late acts of parliament. Letters were also addressed 
general to the carl of Shclbume and general Conway, se- 
veral mem- cretaries of state, to the marquis of Rockingham, lord 
mitfistra- Camden, the earl of Chatham, and the lords com- 
"°°' missioners of the treasury. These letters, while they 
breathe a spirit of ardent attachment to the British 
constitution, and to the British nation, manifest a per- 
fect conviction that their complaints were just. 

Conclusive as the arguments they contained might 
have appeared to Englishmen, if urged by themselves 
in support of their own rights, they had not much 
weight, when used to disprove the existence of their 

* Prior documents. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 371 

authority over others. The deep and solemn tone ofCHAPXin. 
conviction, however, conveyed in all these letters, 
ought to have produced a certainty that the principles 
assumed in them had made a strong impression, and 
would not be lightly abandoned. It ought to have 
been foreseen that with such a people, so determined, 
the conflict must be stern and hazardous : and, it was 
well worth the estimate, whether the object would 
compensate the means used to obtain it. 

The assembly also voted a petition to the King^, Petition to 
replete with professions of loyalty and attachment ; 
but stating, in explicit terms, their sense of the acts 
against which they petitioned. 

A proposition was next made for an address to the 
other colonies on the power claimed by parliament, 
which, after considerable debate, was carried in the 
affirmative ; and a circular letter to the assemblies of 
the several provinces, setting forth the proceedings of 
the house of representatives, was prepared and adopt- 
ed.* 

To rescue their measures from the imputation of 
systematic opposition to the British government, the 
house, without acknowledging the obligation of the 
mutiny act, complied with a requisition of the gover- 
nor to make a farther provision for one of the King's 
garrisons v\ithin the province. The governor, soon 
afterwards, prorogued the general court with an angry 
speech, not calculated to diminish the resentments 
of the house directed against himself; resentments 

* See note 5, at the end of the volume. 



37® HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xm occasioned as much by the haughtiness of his man- 
ners, and a persuasion that he had misrepresented 
their conduct and opinions to ministers, as by the un- 
popular course his station required him to pursue.* 

The circular letter of the house of representatives 
of Massachusetts was v\ ell received in the other colo- 
nies. Thev approved the measures which had been 
taken, and readily united in them. They, too, peti- 
tioned the King against the obnoxious acts of parlia- 
ment, and instructed their several agents to use all 
proper means to obtain their repeal. Virginia trans- 
mitted a statement of her proceedingsf to her sister 
colonies ; and her house of Burgesses, in a letter to 
Massachusetts, communicating the representation 
made to parliament, say, " that they do not affect an 
independency of their parent kingdom, the prosperity 
of which they are bound, to the utmost of their abili- 
ties, to promote ; but cheerfully acquiesce in the au- 
thority of parliament to make laws for the preserving 
a necessary dependence, and for regulating the trade 
of the colonies ; yet they cannot conceive, and humbly 
insist, it is not essential to support a proper relation 
between the mother country, and colonies transplant- 
ed from her, that she should have a right to raise 
money from them without their consent, and presume 
they do not aspire to more than the rights of British 
subjects, when they assert that no power on earth has 
a right to impose taxes on the people, or take the 

• Minot. I Prior documents. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 373 

smallest portion of their property without their con- ^" ^^ ^"^^ 
sent given by their representatives in parliament.* 

On the first intimation of the measures taken by 
Massachusetts, the earl of Hillsborough, who had 
been appointed to the newly created office of secre- 
tary of state for the department of the colonies, ad- 
dressed a circular to the several governors, to be laid 
before the respective assemblies, in which he treated 
the circular letter of Massachusetts, as being of the 
most dangerous tendency, calculated to inflame the 
minds of his majesty's good subjects in the colonies, 
to promote an unwarrantable combination, to excite 
an open opposition to the authority of parliament, and 
to subvert the true principles of the constitution.! 

His first object was to prevail on the several as- 
semblies openly to censure the conduct of Massachu- 
setts ; his next, to prevent their approving the pro- 
ceedings of that colony. The letter, far from pro- 
ducing the desired effect, rather served to strengthen 
the determination of the colonies to unite in their en- 



• In this letter the house of Burgesses express their opinion of the mutiny 
act in the following terms. " The act suspending the legislative power of New 
York, they consider as slill more alarming to the colonies, though it has that 
single province in view. If parliament can compel them to furnish a single ar- 
ticle to (he troops sent over, they may, by the same rule, oblige them to fur- 
nish clothes, arms, and every other necessary, even the pay of the officers and 
soldiers ; a doctrine repl'-te with every mischief, and utterly subversive of all 
that's dear and valuable ; for what advantage can the people ot the colonies de- 
rive from choosing their own representatives, if those representatives, when 
chosen, be not permitted to exercise their own judgments, be under a necessi- 
ty (on pain of being deprived of their legislative authority) of enforcing the 
mandates of a British parliament." 

I' Prior doeuments. 



374* HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP xm . deavours to obtain a repeal of laws universallv detest- 

1768. . . ' 

ed. On manifesting this disposition, the assemblies 
were generally dissolved ; — probably in pursuance of 
instructions from the crown. 

When the general court of Massachusetts was again 
convened, governor Bernard laid before the house of 
representatives, an extract of a letter from the earl 
of Hillsborough, in which, afteranimadverting in harsh 
terms on the circular letter to the colonies, he de- 
clared it to be " the King's pleasure" that the gover- 
nor " should require of the house of representatives, in 
his majesty's name, to rescind the resolution on which 
the circular letter was founded, and to declare their 
disapprobation of, and dissent from, that rash and 
hasty proceeding." 

This message excited considerable agitation ; but 
the house, without coming to any resolution on it, re- 
quested the governor to lay before them the whole 
letter of the earl of Hillsborough, and also copies of 
such letters as had been written by his excellency to 
that nobleman, on the subject to which the message 
referred. 

The copies were haughtily refused ; but the resi- 
due of the letter from the earl of Hillsborough was 
laid before them. That minister said, " if, notwith- 
standing the apprehensions which may justly be en- 
tertained of the ill consequence of a continuance of 
this factious spirit, which seems to have influenced 
the resolutions of the assembly at the conclusion of 
the last session, the new assembly should refuse to 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 375 

comply with his majesty's reasonable expectation, it ^"'^J^g^'"' 
is the King's pleasure that you immediately dissolve 
them." 

This subject being taken into consideration, a let- 
ter to the earl was reported, and agreed to by a ma- 
jority of ninety-three to thirteen, in which they de- 
fended their circular letter in strong and manly, but 
respectful terms ; and concluded with saying, '* the 
house humbly rely on the royal clemency, that to pe- 
tition his majesty will not be deemed by him to be 
inconsistent with a respect to the British constitution 
as settled at the revolution by William III., and that 
to acquaint their fellow subjects involved in the same 
distress, of their having so done, in full hopes of suc- 
cess, even if they had invited the union of all Ame- 
ri'^a in one joint supplication, would not be discounte- 
nanced by their gracious sovereign, as a measure of 
an inflammatory nature. That when your lordship 
shall in justice lay a true state of these matters before 
his majesty, he will no longer consider them as tend- 
ing to create unwarrantable combinations, or excite 
an unjustifiable opposition to the constitutional au- 
thority of parliament ; that he will then truly discern 
who are of that desperate faction which is continually 
disturbing the public tranquillity ; and that, while his 
arm is extended for the protection of his distressed 
and injured subjects, he will frown upon all those who, 
to gratify their own passions, have dared to attempt to 
deceive him."* 

• Prior documents. 



76 HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP, xin ^ motion to rescind the resolution on which their 

1768. 

circular letter was founded, passed in the negative, 
by a majority of ninety-two to seventeen ; and a let- 
ter to the governor was prepared, stating their mo- 
tives for refusing to comply with the requisition of the 

Legislature earl of Hillsborough. Immediately after receiving it, 

chusJusd'is- he prorogued the assembly, with an angry speech ; 

^^ '^' and, the next day, dissolved it by proclamation.* 

While the opposition was thus conducted by the 
legislature with temperate firmness, and legitimate 
means, the general irritation occasionally displayed 
itself at Boston, in acts of violence denoting evident- 
ly that the people of that place, were prepared for 
much stronger measures than their representatives had 
adopted. 

Seizure of fhe scizure of the sloop Liberty belonsrina: to Mr. 

the Sloop * ■^ ° '^ . 

Liberty. Hancock, by the collector of the customs, occasioned 
the assemblage of a tumultuous mob, who beat the 
officers and their assistants, took possession of a boat 
belonging to the collector, burnt it in triumph, and 
patrolled the streets for a considerable time. The 
revenue officers fled for refuge, first to the Romney 
man of war, and afterwards to Castle William. After 
the lapse of some time, the governor moved the coun- 
cil to take into consideration some measure for re- 
storing vigour and firmness to government. The 
council replied " that the disorders which happened 
were occasioned by the violent and unprecedented 
manner in which the sloop Liberty had been seized 

• Minot, 



AMERICAN COLONIES. *^77 

by the officers of the customs. And the inhabitants ^hap. xm 

^ . . 1768. 

of Boston, in a justificatory memorial, supported by 
affidavits, insisted that the late tumults were occasion- 
ed, principally, by the haughty conduct of the com- 
missioners and their subordinate officers, and by the 
illegal and offensive conduct of the Ronmey man of 
war.* 

The legislature however did not think proper to 
countenance this act of violence. A committee of 
both houses, appointed to inquire into the state of the 
province, made a report which, after reprobating the 
circumstances attending the seizure, to which the mob 
was ascribed, declared their abhorrence of a proce- 
dure which they pronounced criminal ; desired the 
governor to direct a prosecution against all persons 
concerned in the riot ; and to issue a proclamation 
offering a reward to any person who should make dis- 
coveries by which the rioters or their abettors should 
be brought to condign punishment. 

This report, hovvever, seems to have been intend- 
ed, rather to save appearances, than to produce any 
real effect. It was perfectly understood that no per- 
son would dare to inform ; or even to appear, as a 
witness, in any prosecution which might be instituted. 
Suits were afterwards brought against Mr. Hancock 
and others, owners of the vessel and cargo ; but they 
were never prosecuted to a final decision. f 

This riot accelerated a measure, which tended, in 

• Minot. Prior documents. t Minot. 

SB 



37S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIII no inconsiderable degree, to irritate still farther the 

17tiH 

angry dispositions already pre\alent in Boston. 

The governor had pressed on administration the 
necessity of stationing; a military force in the province, 
for the protection of the officers employed in collect- 
ing the revenue, and of the magistrates, in preserving 
the public peace. In consequence of these represen- 
tations, orders had already been given to general 
Gage to detach, at least, one regiment on this service, 
and to select for the command of it, an officer on 
whose prudence, resolution, and integrity, he could 
rely. The transactions respecting the sloop Liberty 
rendered any attempt to produce a countermand of 
these orders entirely abortive ; and, probably occa- 
sioned two regiments, instead of one, to be detached 
by general Gage.* 

It seems to have been supposed that a dissolution of 
the assembly of Massachusetts would dissolve also the 
opposition to the measures of administration ; and 
that the people, having no longer constitutional lead- 
ers, being no longer excited and conducted by their 
representatives, would gradually become quiet, and 
return to, what was termed, their duty to government. 
But the opinions expressed by the house of represen- 
tatives were the opinions of the great body of the 
people, and had been adopted with too much ardour 
to be readily suppressed. The most active and ener- 
getic part of society had embraced them with enthu- 
siasm ; and the dissolution of the assembly, by creat- 

• Minot. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 379 

ing a necessity for devising other expedients, hasten- chap, xm 

J I !•' 1 • ' • • 1 m 1768. 

ed a mode or conducting opposition at least as effica- 
cious, and afterwards universally adopted. 

At a town meeting of the inhai^itants of Boston, a 
committee was deputed f^r the purpose of praying 
the governor to convene another general assembly. 
Ke replied that no other could be convened until his 
majesty's commands to that effect should be receiv- 
ed. This answer being reported, the meeting resolv- 
ed " that to levy money within that province by any 
other authority than that of the general court, was a 
violation of the royal charter, and of the undoubted 
natural rights of British subjects. 

" That the freeholders, and other inhabitants of the 
town of Boston would, at the peril of their lives and 
fortunes, take all legal and constitutional measures to 
defend all and singular the rights, liberties, privileges, 
and immunities, granted in their royal charter. 

" That as there was an apprehension in the minds 
of many of an approaching war with France, those in- 
habitants who were not provided with arms should be 
requested duly to observe the laws of the province, 
which required that every freeholder should furnish 
himself with a complete stand." 

But the important resolution was " that, as the go- 
vernor did not think proper to call a general court for 
the redress of their grievances, the town would then 
make choice of a suitable number of persons to act 
for them as a committee in a convention, to be held 



380 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XIII gt Faneuil Hall in Boston, with such as might be sent 
to join them from the several towns in the province." 
These votes were communicated by the select men, 
in a circular letter to the other towns in the province, 
which were requested to concur, and to elect com- 
mittee men, to meet those of Boston in convention. 
Convention The measure was p;enerally adopted ; and a conven- 

ass<-n)l>les . ^ i i • i ii i i 

in Boston, tiou met, which was regarded with all the respect that 
could have been paid to a legitimate assembly.* 

The country in general, though united on the great 
constitutional question of taxation, was probably not 
so highly exasperated as the people of Boston ; and 
the convention acted with unexpected moderation. 

Its inodera- They disclaimed all pretensions to any other charac- 
ter than that of mere individuals, assembled by de- 
putation from the towns, to consult and advise on such 
measures as might tend to promote the peace of his 
majesty's subjects in the province, but without power 
to pass any acts possessing a coercive quality. 

They petitioned the governor to assemble a gene- 
ral court, and addressed a letter to the agent of the 
province in England, stating the character in which 
they met, and the motives which brought them to- 
gether. After expressing their opinions with temper 
and firmness on the subjects of general complaint, 
and recommending patience and order to the people, 
they dissolved themselves, and returned to their re- 
spective homes, t 

* Minot. I Idem. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 381 



The day before the convention rose, the two regi 



CHAP.Xin 

ires. 
ments which had been detached by greneral Gage ar- Two i egi- 

VT T 1 »ni tnents ar- 

rived, under convoy, m Nantasket road. 1 he coun- rWe. 

cil had rejected an application of the governor to pro- 
vide quarters for them, because the barracks in the 
castle were siifficient for their accommodation ; and, 
by act of parliament, the British troops were not to 
be quartered elsewhere until those barracks were full. 
General Gage had directed one regiment to be sta- 
tioned in Boston ; but, on hearing a report that the 
people were in a state of open revolt, he gave addi- 
tional orders, which left the whole subject to the dis- 
cretion of the commanding officer ; w ho was induced, 
by some rash threats of opposing the disembarkation 
of the troops to land both regiments in that place. 
The ships took a station which commanded the whole 
town, and lay with their broad sides towards it, ready 
to fire, should any resistance be attempted. The 
troops landed under cover of their cannon, and march- 
ed into the common with loaded muskets and fixed 
bayonets ;* a display of military pomp, which was 
believed by the inhabitants to have been intended for 
the purpose either of intimidation, or of irritation. 

The select men, as well as the council, having re- 
fused to provide quarters for the troops, the governor 
ordered the state house to be opened for their recep- 
tion ; and they took possession of all the apartments 
in it, except that which was reserved for the council. 
The people were filled with indignation at seeing the 

• Gazette. 



38S HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIII chamber of their representatives crowded with regu- 
lar soldiers, their counsellors surrounded with foreign 
troops, and their whole city exhibiting the appearance 
of a garrisoned town. With the difference of man- 
ners between the soldiers and the inhabitants, and the 
strong prejudices reciprocally felt against each other, 
it is not wonderful that personal broils should fre- 
quently occur, and that mutual antipathies should be 
still farther increased.* 

While these measures were pursuing in America, 
every session of parliament was opened with a speech 
from the King, stating that a disposition to refuse 
obedience to the laws, and to resist the authority of 
the supreme legislature of the nation, still prevailed 
among his misguided subjects in some of the colonies. 
In the addresses to the throne, both houses uniform- 
ly expressed their abhorrence of the rebellious spirit 
manifested in the ccjlonies, and their approbation of 
the measures taken by his majesty for the restoration 
of order and good government, i 

To give a more solemn expression to the sense of 
parliament on this subject, the two houses entered 
into joint resolutions, condemning the measures pur- 
sued by the Americans ; and agreed to an address, 
approving the conduct of the crown, giving assuran- 
ces of effectual support to such farther measures as 
might be found necessary to maintain the civil ma- 
gistrates in a due execution of the laws within the 
province of Massachusetts Bay, and beseeching his 

• Minot 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 383 

majesty to direct the governor of that colony to ob- ^"/^^g^"^' 
tain and transmit information of all treasons commit- 
ted in Massachusetts since the year 1767, with the 
names of the persons who had been most active in 
promoting such offences, that prosecutions might be 
instituted against them within the realm, in pursu- 
ance of the statute of the 35th of Henry VIII.* 

The impression made by these threatening decla- nm. 
rations, which seem to have been directed particular- 
ly against Massachusetts, in the hope of deterring the 
other provinces from involving themselves in her dan- 
gers, was far from being favourable to the views of 
the mother country. The determination to resist the 
exercise of the authority claimed by Great Britain 
not only remained unshaken, but was manifested in a 
still more decided form. 

Not long after these votes of parliament, the as- 
sembly of Virginia was convened by lord Botetourt, 
a nobleman of conciliating manners, who had lately 
been appointed governor of that province. The house 
took the state of the colony into their immediate 
consideration, and passed unanimously several reso- Resolutions 

, . . , 1 • • I r I II "^'f thf- house 

lutions asserting the exclusive right or that assemblv ..t Bnr- 
to impose taxes on the inhabitants within his majesty's vitg^nia. 
dominion of Virginia, and their undoubted ri^jht to 
petition for a redress of grievances, and to obtain a 
concurrence of the other colonies in such petitions. 
That all persons charged with the commission of any 
oifence within that colony, w ere entitled to a trial be- 

• Belsham. Prior documents. 



384* HISTORY OF THE 

^^^769'" ^^^^ *^^^ tribunals of the country, according to the fixed 
and known course of proceeding therein, and that to 
sieze such persons, and transport them beyond sea 
for trial, derogated in a high degree from the rights 
of British subjects, as thereby the inestimable privi- 
lege of being tried by a jury from the vicinage, as 
well as the liberty of summoning and producing wit- 
nesses on such trial, will be taken from the party ac- 
cused." 

An address to his majesty was also agreed on, 
which states in the style of loydty and rei*! attach- 
ment to tlie crown, the deep conviction of the house 
of Burgesses of Virginia, that the complaints of the 
colonists were well founded.* 

Assembly Intelligence of these proceedings havina: reached 

dissolved. ° 1 , , , , 

the governor, he suddenly dissolved the assembly. 
This measure did not jjroduce the desired effect. 
The members convened at a private house, and, 
having chosen their speaker, moderator, proceeded 
to form a non- importing association, which was sign- 
ed by every person present, and afterwards, almost 
universally throughout the province.f 

From the commencement of the controversy, the 
opinion seems to have prevailed in all the colonies, 
that the most effectual means of succeeding in the 
struggle in which they were engaged, were those 
which would interest the merchants and manufacturers 
of Great Britain in their favour. Under the influence 
of this opinion, associations had been proposed in 

• Gazette. Prior documents. f Idem. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 385 

Massachusetts, as early as May 1765, for the non- chapxiii. 

J J ^ 1769. 

importation of goods from that country. The mer- 
chants of some of the trading towns in the other colo- 
nies, especially those of Philadelphia, refused, at that 
time, to concur in a measure which they thought too 
strong for the existing state of things ; and it was laid 
aside. But, in the beginning of August, it was re- 
sumed in Boston ; and the merchants of that place en- 
tered into an agreement not to import from Great 
Britain any articles whatever, except a few of the first 
necessity, between the firbt of January 170 9, and the 
first of January 1770; and not to import tea, glass, 
paper, or painter's colours, until the duties imposed 
on those articles should be taken off. This agree- 
ment was soon afterwards ado|)ted in the town of Sa- 
lem, the city of New York, and the province of Con- 
necticut ; but was not generally entered into through 
the colonies, until the resolutions and address of the 
two houses of parliament which have already l^een 
mentioned, seemed to cut off the hope that jjetitions 
and memorials alone, would effect the object for 
which they contended.* 

The proceedings of the hoiise of Burgesses of Vir- 
ginia had been transmitted to the speakers of the seve-. 
ral asseniblies throughout the continent. In the opi- 
nion of the neighbouring colonies, the occasion re- 
quired efficacious measures ; and an association, si- Measures 
milar to that which had been formed by their elder sis- impo.taiioa 
ter, was entered into by Maryland, and the Carolinas. goods'.'* 

• Minot. 

3C 



386 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAPxm 'I'j^^ inhabitants of Charleston went so far as to break 
off all connexion with Rhode Island and Georgia, 
which had refused to adopt the non-importation ap;ree- 
ment. This vigorous measure was not without its in- 
fluence ; and those provinces, soon afterwards, entered 
into the association.* 

In Portsmouth in New Hampshire, where governor 
Wentworth possessed great influence, some repug- 
nance to this njeasure w as also discovered ; but, being 
threatened with a suspension of their intercourse with 
the other colonies, the merchants of that place con- 
curred in the general system. 

All united in giving effect to this agreement. The 
utmost exertions were used to improve the manufac- 
tures of the country ; and the fair sex, laying aside 
the late fashionable ornaments of England, exulted, 
with patriotic pride, in appearing dressed in the pro- 
duce of their own looms. Committees chosen by 
the people superintended importations ; and the force 
of public opinion went far to secure the agreement 
from violation. 
General The necessities of government requiring a supply 
Massachu. of Hiouey, the general court of Massachusetts was 
again convened. The members of the former house 
of representatives were generally re-elected, and 
brought with them the temper w^hich had occasioned 
their dissolution. Instead of entering on the business 
for which they were called together, they engaged in 
a controversy with the governor concerning the re- 

• Gazette. Prior documents. 



court in 

Masi 
setts 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 387 

moval of the ships of war from the harbour, and of£^li^ZII! 
the troops from the town of Boston, to which they 
contended, his power, as the representative of the 
crown was adequate. 

The governor, ascribing this temper to the influ- 
ence of the metropolis, adjourned the general court 
to Cambridge ; but this measure served to increase the 
existing irritation. The business recommended to 
them remained unnoticed ; their altercations with the 
governor continued ; and they entered into several 
warm resolutions enlarging the ' catalogue of their 
grievances, in terms of greater exasperation than had 
appeared in the official acts of any legislature on the 
continent.* 

Not long after the passage of these resolutions, the 
house explicitly refused to make the provision re- 
quired by the mutiny act for the troops stationed in 
Massachusetts; upon which, the legislature was pro- n is pro- 
rogued until the first of January.f 

The committees, appointed to examine the cargoes 
of vessels arriving from Great Britain, continued to 
execute the trust reposed in them. Votes of censure 
were passed on such as refused to concur in the as- 
sociation, or violated its principles ; and the names of 
the offenders were published, as enemies to their coun- 
try. In some cases, the goods imported in contra- 
vention of it, were locked up in warehouses ; and, in 
some few instances, they were re-shipped to Great 
Britain. 

• Prior docaments. Minet. f Minot. 



roeued. 



388 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIII. -^qx lon^ after the stron^a: resolutions already noticed 
had been agreed to by parliament, while their effect 
was unfolding itself in every part of the American 
continent, an important revolution took place in the 
British cabinet. The duke of Grafton was placed at 
the head of a new administration. He supported, 
with great earnestness, a proposition to repeal the du- 
ties imposed for the purpose of raising revenue in the 
colonies ; but his whole influence was insufficient to 
Adminis- carry this measure completely. It was deemed in- 
soivf.i on dispensable to the maintenance of the legislative su- 
re^eTof premacy of Great Britain, to retain the duty on some 
dunes. ^^^ article ; and that on tea was reserved while the 
others were relinquished. 

Seldom has a wise nation adopted a more ill judged 
measure than this. The contest with America was 
plainly a contest of principle, and had been conducted 
entirely on principle by both parties. The amount 
of taxes proposed to be raised was too inconsiderable 
to interest the people of either country. But the 
principle was, in the opinion of both, of the utmost 
ipnagnitude. The measure now proposed, while it 
I encouraged the colonists to hope that their cause was 
gaining strength in Britain, had no tendency to con- 
ciliate them. 
Circular In pursuaucc of this resolution of the cabinet, a cir- 
eari Iif cular letter was written by the earl of Hillsborough 
rough."* to the several governors, informing them " that it was 
the intention of his majesty's ministers to propose, 
in the next session of parliament, taking off the duties 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 389 

on glass, paper, and painter's colours, in considera- chapxiii . 

tion of such duties having been laid contrary to the 

true spirit of contmerce ; and assuring them that, at 

no time, had they entertained the design to propose 

to parliament to lay any further taxes on America for 

the purpose of raising a revenue."* 

This measure uas soon communicated in letters 
frooi private individuals in England to their corres- 
pondents in Massachusetts. The merchants of Bos- 
ton, apprehensive that an improper opinion concern- 
ing its operation might be formed, resolved that the 
partial repeal of the duties did not remove the diffi- 
culties under which their trade laboured, and was 
only calculated to relieve the manufacturers of Great 
Britain ; and that they would still adhere to their non- 
importation agreement.f 

The communication of the earl of Hillsborough to 
the several governors, va as laid before the respective 
assemblies as they convened, in terms implying an 
intention to renounce the imposition, in future, of any 
taxes in America. But this communication seems 
not to have restored perfect content in any of the co- 
lonies. 

The Virginia legislature was in session on its ar- 
rival, and governor Botetourt laid it before them. 
Their dissatisfaction with it was manifested by a peti- 
tion to the King re-asserting the rights previously 
maintained ; and by an association, signed by the 
members as individuals, renewing their non importa- 

• Prior documents. t Minot. 



390 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiTT. tinn asjreement, until the duty on tea should bt ic- 
pealed.* 

Yet several causes combined to prevent a rigid ob- 
servance of these associations. The sacrifice of in- 
terest made by the merchants could be continued only 
under the influence of powerful motives. Suspicions 
were entertained of each other in the same towns ; 
and committees to superintend the conduct of impor- 
ters were charged with gross partiality. The different 
towns too watched each other with considerable jea- 
lousy ; and accusations were reciprocally made of in- 
fractions of the association to a great extent. Let- 
ters were published purporting to be from England, 
stating that large orders for goods had been received; 
and the inconvenience resulting from even a partial 
interruption of commerce, and from the want of those 
manufactures which the inhabitants had been accus- 
tomed to use, began to be severely and extensively 
felt. In Rhode Island, and Albany, it was determin- 
ed to import as usual, with the exception of such ar- 
ticles as should be dutiable. On the remonstrances 
of other commercial places, especially of Boston, these 
resolutions were changed ; and the hope was enter- 
tained that the general system on which the colonies 
relied, would still be maintained. 

These hopes were blasted by New York. That 
city soon manifested a disposition to import as usual, 
with the exception of those articles only which were 
subject to a duty. At first, the resolution thus to 

• Gazette. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 391 

limit the operation of the non-importation agreement, chap xiti. 
was made to depend on its being acceded to by Bos- 
ton and Philadelphia. These towns refused to depart 
from the association as originally formed, and strenu- 
ously urged their brethren of New York to persevere 
with them in the glorious struggle. This answer was 
communicated to the people, and their opinion on the 
question of rescinding, or adhering to, the non-impor- New York 
tation agreement, was taken in their respective wards, pan from 
A decided majority was found in favour of rescinding, pom°k>n'°" 
with the single exception of dutiable articles. This "S''"'"^"*- 
determination excited the most lively chagrin in New 
England and Philadelphia. Their remonstrances 
against it were, however, ineffectual ; and the exam- 
ple was soon followed throughout the colonies.* 

The people of New York alleged, in justification 
of themselves, that the towns of New England had 
not observed their engagements fairly ; and that the 
merchants of Albany had been in the practice of re- 
ceiving goods from Quebec. But no sufficient evi- 
dence in support of these assertions was ever pro- 
duced. 

About this time a circumstance occurred, which 1770, 
produced the most serious agitation. The two regi- 
ments stationed in Boston, to support, as was said, 
the civil authority, and preserve the peace of the town, 
were viewed by the inhabitants with very prejudiced March, 
eyes. Frequent quarrels arose between them ; and, 
at length, an affi-ay took place in the night, near the filTston, 

• Minot. Prior documeots. Gazette. 



S92 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP^xm gates of the barracks, uhich brought out captain 
Preston, the officer of the day, with a part of the 
main guard, between whom and the townsmen blows 
ensued ; on which some of the soldiers fired, and four 
of the people were killed. 

The alarm bells were immediately rung, the drums 
beat to arms, and an immense multitude assembled. 
Inflamed to madness by the view of the dead bodies, 
they were with difficulty restrained from rushing on 
the 29th regiment, which was then drawn up under 
arms in King street. The exertions of the lieutenant 
governor, who promised that the laws should be en- 
forced on the perpetrators of the act, and the effijrts 
of several respectable and popular individuals, pre- 
vented their proceeding to extremities, and prevailed 
on them, after the regiment had been marched to the 
barracks, to disperse without farther mischief. Cap- 
tain Preston, and the soldiers who had fired, were 
committed to prison for trial. On the next day, up- 
wards of four thousand citizens of Boston assembled 
at Faneuil Hall ; and, in a message to the lieutenant 
governor, stated it to be " the unanimous opinion of 
the meeting, that the inhabitants and soldiers can no 
longer live together in safety ; that nothing can ra- 
tionally be expected to restore the peace of the town, 
and prevent farther blood and carnage, but the imme- 
diate removal of the troops ; and they therefore most 
fervently prayed his honour that his power and influ- 
ence might be exerted for their instant resnoval.'' 

The lieutenant governor expressed his extreme sor- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 393 

row at the melancholy event which had occurred : ^^ ^^^-^nt- 

^ ' 1770. 

and declared that he had taken measures to have the 
affair inquired into, and justice done. That the mili- 
tary were not under his command, but received their 
orders from the general at New York, which orders 
it was not in his power to countermand. That, on 
the application of the council for the removal of the 
troops, colonel Dalrympie, their commanding officer, 
had engaged that the twenty-ninth regiment, which 
had been concerned in the affair, should be marched 
to the castle, and there placed in barracks until far- 
ther orders should be received from the general ; and 
that the main guard should be removed, and the four- 
teenth regiment laid under such restraints, that all 
occasions of future disturbance should be prevented. 
This answer was voted to be unsatisfactory ; and a 
committee was deputed to wait on the lieutenant 
governor, and inform him that nothing could content 
them but an immediate and total removal of the 
troops. 

This vote was laid before the council by Mr. 
Hutchinson, who had succeeded Mr. Bernard in the 
government of the province. The council declared 
themselves unanimously of opinion "that it was abso- 
lutely necessary for his Majesty's service, the good 
order of the town, and the peace of the province, that 
the troops should be immediately removed out of the 
town of Boston." 

This opinion and advice being communicated to 
colonel Dalrympie, he gave his honour that measures 
3 D 



S94j HISTORY OF THE 



cHA^xiTi should be immediately taken for the removal of both 
regiments. Satisfied with this assurance, the meet- 
ing secured the tranquillity of the town by appointing 
a strong military watch, and immediately dissolved 
itself. 

This transaction was very diiferently related by the 
different parties. Mr. Gordon, whose history was 
written when the resentments of the moment had 
subsided, and who has collected the facts of the case 
carefullv, states it in such a manner as nearly, if not 
entirely, to exculpate the soldiers. It appears that an 
attack upon them had been pre-concerted ; and that, 
after being long insulted with the grossest language, 
they were repeatedly assaulted by the mob with balls 
of ice and snow, and widi sticks, before they were 
induced to fire. This representation is strongly sup- 
ported by the circumstances, that captain Preston, 
Trial of ^^^^^ ^ ^^",^ ^"^ public trial, was acquitted by a Bos- 
captain jq^ iyj-y . aj^(] that slx of the eieht soldiers who were 

Preston and J J ' ^ f^ 

the soldiers, prosecuted, were acquitted, and the remaining two 
found guilty of manslaughter only. Mr. Quincy, 
and Mr. John Adams, two eminent lawyers, and dis- 
tinguished leaders of the patriotic party, defended the 
accused, without sustaining any diminution of popu- 
larity. Yet this event was very differently understood 
through the colonies. It was generally believed to 
be a massacre, equally barbarous and unprovoked; 
and it increased the detestation in which the soldiers 
were universally held. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 395 

CHAP XIV. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Insurrection in JVbrfh Carolina. — Dissatisfaction of 
Massachusetts, — Corresponding committees. — Go- 
vernor Hutchinson^ s correspondence communicated 
by Dr. Franklin. — The assembly petition for his 
removal. — He is succeeded by general Gage. — 
Measures to enforce the act concerning duties. — 
Ferment in America. — The tea thrown into the sea 
at Boston. — Measures of Parliament. — General 
enthusiasm in America. — A general congress pro- 
posed. — General Gage arrives. — Troops stationed 
on Boston neck. — Neiv counsellors and judges. — 
Obliged to resigfi — Boston neck fortijied. — Militarij 
stores seized by general Gage. — Preparations for 
defence. — King's speech. — Proceedings of Parlia- 
ment. — Battle of Lexington. — Massachusetts raises 
men. — Meeting of Congress. — Proceedings of that 
body. — Transactions in Virginia. — Provincial con- 
gress of South Carolina. — Battle of Breed's hill. 

In the middle and southern colonies, the irritation i77o, 
against the mother country appears to have gradually 
subsided and no disposition was manifested to extend 
opposition farther than to the importation of tea. 
Their attention was a good deal directed to an insur- iio.^i"' 
rection in North Carolina, where a number of igno-Shla.^*' 



396 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xn j.g,^j people, supposing themselves to be aggrieved by 
the fee bill, rose in arms for the purpose of shutting 
up the courts of justice, destroying all officers of go- 
vernment, and all lawyers, and of prostrating govern- 
ment itself. Governor Tryon marched against them, 
defeated them in a decisive battle, quelled the insur- 
rection, and restored order. 
Dissatisfac jp Massachusetts, where the doctrine that parlia- 

tion of Mas- ' ' 

sachusetts. nieut could uot rightfully legislate for the colonies 
was maintained as a corollary from the proposition 
that parliament could not tax them, a gloomy discon- 
tent was manifested. That the spirit of opposition 
seemed to be expiring, without securing the rights 
they claimed, excited apprehensions of a much more 
serious nature in the bosoms of that inflexible people, 
than the prospect of any conflict, however terrible. 
This temper displayed itself in all their proceedings. 
The legislature, uhich the governor continued to 
convene at Cambridge, remonstrated against this re- 
moval as an intolerable grievance ; and, for two ses- 
sions, refused to proceed on business. In one of 
their remonstrances, they asserted the ri^^ht of the 
people to appeal to heaven in disputes between them 
and persons in pouer, when power shall be abused. 

Corres- From the commencement of the contest, Massa- 

poiicling 

committees, chusetts had been peculiarly solicitous to unite all 
the colonies in one system of measures. In pursu- 
ance of this favourite idea, a committee of correspon- 
dence was elected by the general court, to communi- 
cate with such committees as might be appointed by 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 397 

Other 'legislatures.* Similar committees were soon^Ii^JLJ^ 
afterwards chosen by the townsf throughout the pro- 
vince, for the purpose of corresponding with each 
other ; and the example was soon followed by other 
colonies. 

While this system of vigilance was in progress, a 177^. 
discovery was made which greatly increased the ill 
temper of New England. Doctor Franklin, the agent 
of Massachusetts, by some unknown means, obtained Governor 
possession of the letters which had been addressed son's coi- 
by governor Hutchinson, and by lieutenant governor IjeTce" 
Oliver, to the department of state. He transmitted 
these letters to the general court. They were obvi- 
ously designed to induce government to persevere in 
the system which was alienating the affections of the 
colonists. The opposition was represented as being 
confined to a few factious men, whose conduct was 
not generally approved, and who had been embolden- 
ed by the weakness of the means used to restrain 
them. More vigorous measures were recommend- 
ed ; and several specific propositions were made, 
which were peculiarly offensive. Among these was 
a plan for altering the charters of the colonies, and' 
rendering the high officers dependent solely on the 
crown for their salaries.^ 

The assembly, inflamed by these letters, unani-~ 
mously resolved, " that their tendency and design 

• Almost at the same time, and without concert, the same measure was 
adopted in Virginia, 
t See note No. 6, at the end of the volume. i Minot. 



398 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAp.xiv yyeyg jy overthrow the constitution of the sj-overn- 

ment, and to introduce arbitrary power into the pro- 

Petition loi-vince." At the same time, a petition to the Kina: 

the removal _ _ ' *-' 

ottiiego- was voted, prayinsr him to remove afovernor Hutch- 

vernof and . . . 

lieutenant inson and heutenant governor Oliver, for ever, from 

governor. , ' rr<, • 

the government oi the colony. 1 his petition was 
transmitted to Doctor Franklin, and laid before the 
King in council. After hearing it, the lords of the 
council reported " that the petition in question was 
founded upon false and erroneous allegations, and 
that the same is groundless, vexatious, and scanda- 
lous, and calculated only for the seditious purposes 
of keeping up a spirit of clamour and discontent in 
the provinces." This report, his majesty was pleas^ 
ed to approve, 
nuichinsou Governor Hutchinson however was soon after- 

succeeded 

by Gage, wards rcmovcd, and general Gage appointed to suc- 
ceed him. 

The fears of Massachusetts, that the spirit which 
had been roused in the colonies might gradually sub- 
side, were not of long continuance. The determina- 
tion not to import tea from England, had so lessened 
the demand for that article, that a considerable quan- 
tity had accumulated in the magazines of the East 
India company. They urged the minister to take off 
the import American duty of three pence per pound, 
and offered, in lieu of it, to pay double that sum on 
Measures exportation. Instead of acceding to this proposition, 
the duties, drawbacks were allowed on tea exported to the colo- 
nies ; and the export duty on that article was taken 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



399 



CHAP XIV. 

1774. 



off. These encouragements induced the company 
to make shipments on their own account ; and large 
quantities were consigned to agents in Boston, New 
York, Philadelphia, Charleston, and other principal 
places on the continent.* 

The crisis was arrived ; and the conduct of the 
colonies was now to determine whether they would 
submit to be taxed by parliament, or meet the conse- 
quences of a practical assertion of the opinions they had 
maintained. The tea, if landed, would be sold ; the 
duties would, consequently, be paid ; and the prece- 
dent for taxing them established. The same senti- 
ment on this subject appears to have pervaded the 
whole continent at the same time. This ministerial 
plan of importation was considered by all, as a direct 
attack on the liberties of the people of America, which 
it was the duty of all to oppose. A violent ferment ^'^l^,.^"^* "^ 
was excited in all the colonies ; the corresponding 
committees were extremely active ; and it was almost 
universally declared that whoever should, directly or 
indirectly, countenance this dangerous invasion of their 
rights, was an enemy to his country. The consignees 
were, generally, compelled to relinquish their con- 
signments; and, in most instances, the ships bring- 
ing the tea were obliged to return with it. 

At Boston, a town meeting appointed a committee 
to wait on the consignees to request their resignation. 
This request not being complied with, another large 

* Mioot. BeUham 



400 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiv. meeting* assembled at Faneuil Hall, who voted, with 

1774. '^ 

acclamation, *' that the tea shall not be landed, that 
no duty shall be paid, and that it shall be sent back 
in the same bottoms." With a forebodinj^ of the 
probable consequences of the measure about to be 
adopted, and a wish that those consequences should 
be seriously contemplated, a leading member-f- thus 
addressed the meeting. 

" It is not, Mr. Moderator, the spirit that vapours 
within these walls that must stand us in stead. The 
exertions of this day will call forth events which 
\\]\\ make a very different spirit necessary for our 
salvation. Whoever supposes tiiat shouts and ho- 
sannahs will terminate the trials of the day, entertains 

• The language said by Mr. Gordon lo have been used at this meeting 
proves that many of the p'-ople ot Bostd' were ali-eaily ripe fop the revolution. 
To the more cautious among " the sons of liOerty," who had exprt.-ssed some 
apprehensions lest they should push the matter too far, and involve the colony 
in a quarrel with Great Biitain, others answered " It must come to a quarrel 
betv^een Great Biitain and the colnnv sooner or later ; and if so what can be a 
bet'er time than the pres'-nt ? lIiuKireds of years may pass away before par- 
liament will make such a number of acts in violation as it has done of late 
years, and by which it has excited so formidable an opposition to the measures 
of administration. Beside, the longer the contest is delayed, the more admi- 
nistration will be strengthened. Do not you observe how the government at 
home are increasing their party here by sending over young fellows to enjoy 
appointments, who many into our best families, and so weaken the opposi- 
tion ? B> sucli means, and by multiplying posts and places, and giving them 
to their own friends, or applying them to the corruption of their antagonists, 
they will increase their own force faster in proportion, than the force of the 
country party will increase by population. If then we must quarrel ere we 
can have our rights secured, now is the most eligible period. Our credit also 
is at stake ; we, must venture, and unless we do, we shall be discarded by the 
sons of liberty in the other colonies, whose assistance we may expect upon 
emergencies, in case they find us steady, resolute, and faithful." 

I Mr. Quincy. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 401 

a childish fancy. We must be sjrossly ignorant oF CHap. xiv 
the importance and value of the prize for which we 
contend ; we must be e(]iially ignorant of the povver 
of those who have combined against us ; we must be 
blind to that malice, inveteracy, and insatiable re- 
venge, which actuate our enemies, public and pri- 
vate, abroad and in our bosoms, to hope that we shall 
end this controversy without the sharpest, sharpest 
conflicts; — to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, po- 
pular harangues, popular acclamations, and popular 
vapour, will vanquish our foes. Let us consider the 
issue. Let us look to the end. Let us weigh and con- 
sider, before we advance to those measures, which 
must bring on the most trying and terrible struggle 
this country ever saw."* 

The question was again put, and passed unani- 
mously in the affirmative. The captain of the vessel, 
aware of the approaching danger, was desirous of re- 
turning, and applied to the governor for a clearance. 
Affecting a rigid regard to the letter of his duty, he 
declined giving one, unless the vessel should be pro- 
perly qualified at the custom house. This answer 
being reported, the meeting was declared to be dis- 
solved ; and an immense crowd rejwired to the quay, 
where a number of the most resolute, disguised as 
Mijhawk Indians, boarded the vessel, broke open 
three hundred and forty-two chests of tea, and dis-Teachrown 
charged their contents into the ocean. f miotUesea. 

These proceedings were laid before parliament in 

• Minot. "j- Idem. 

3E 



402 HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. XIV a message from the crown, and excited a hieh and 
1774. r . . . . 

general indignation against the colonies. Both houses 

Measures expresscd, almost unanimously, their approbation of 

or parlia- * •' ' ^ 

iiament. the mcasures adopted by his Majesty ; and gave ex- 
plicit assurances that they would exert every means 
in their power, to provide eft'ectually for the due exe- 
cution of the laws, and to secure the dependence of 
the colonies upon the crown and parliament of Great 
Britain. The temper both of the parliament and of 
the nation was entirely favourable to the high-handed 
system of coercion proposed by ministers ; and that 
temper was not permitted to pass away unemployed. 
A bill was brought in " for discontinuing the lading 
and shipping of goods, wares, and merchandises, at 
Boston or the harbour thereof, and for the removal of 
the custom-house with its dependencies to the town 
of Salem." This bill was to continue in force, not 
only until compensation should be made to the East 
India company for the damage sustained, but until 
the King in council should declare himself satisfied 
as to the restoration of peace and good order in Bos- 
ton. It passed both houses without a division, and 
almost without opposition.* 

Soon afterwards, a bill was brought in " for better 
regulating the government of the province of Massa- 
chusetts Bay." This act entirely subverted the char- 
ter, and vested in the crown the appointment of the 
counsellors, magistrates, and other officers of the co- 
lony, who were to hold their offices during the royal 

• Belshara. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 403 

pleasure. This bill also was carried throimh hntV> rHAP.xiv\ 

... . . ^774. 

houses by great majorities ; but not without a vigo- 
rous opposition, and an animated debate.* 

The next measure proposed was a bill " for the 
impartial administration of justice in the province of 
Massachusetts Bay. It provided that in case any 
person should be indicted, in that province,, for mur- 
der or any other capital offence, and it should appear 
by information given on oath to the governor, that the 
fact was committed in the exercise or aid of magis- 
tracy in suppressing riots, and that a fair trial could 
not be had in the province, he should send the per- 
son so indicted to any other colony, or to Great Bri- 
tain to be tried." This act was to continue in force 
for four years, f 

A bill was also passed for quartering soldiers on 
the inhabitants ; and the system was completed, by 
" an act making more effectual provision for the go- 
vernment of the province of Quebec." This bill ex- 
tended the boundaries of that province so as to com- 
prehend the territory between the lakes, the Ohio, 
and the Mississippi ; and established a legislative 
council to be appointed by the crown, for its govern- 
ment.! 

Amidst these hostile measures, one single concilia- 
tory proposition was made. Mr. Rose Fuller moved 
that the house resolve itself into a committee to take 
into consideration the duty on the importation of 
tea into America, with a view to its repeal. This 

• Belsham. f Idem. t Hem 



404) HISTORY OF THE 

cnAF.xiv „if^t;^n was seconded by Mr. Burke, and supported 

1774, . J ' ri 

with all the power of reasoning, and all the splendour 
of eloquence which distinguished that consummate 
statesman ; but reason and eloquence were of no avail. 
It was lost by a great majority. The earl of Chat- 
ham, who had long been too ill to attend parliament, 
again made his appearance in the house of lords. He 
could have been draw n out, only by a strong sense of 
the fatal importance of those measures into which the 
nation was hurrying. But his efforts were unavailing. 
Neither his weight of character, his sound judgment, 
nor his manly eloquence, could arrest the hand of 
fate which seemed to propel this lofty nation, with 
irresistible force, to measures which terminated in its 
dismemberment.* 

It was expected, and this expectation was encou- 
raged by Mr. Hutchinson, that, by directing these 
measures particularly against Boston, not only the 
union of the colonies would be broken, but Massa- 
chusetts herself would be divided. Never was ex- 
pectation more completely disappointed. All per- 
ceived that Boston was to be punished for having re- 
sisted, only with more violence, the principle which 
they had all resisted ; and that the object of the pun- 
ishment was to coerce obedience to a principle they 
were still determined to resist. They felt th<:jrefore 
that the cause of Boston was the cause of all, that 
their destinies were indissolubly connected with those 
of thtit devoted town, and that they must submit to 

• Belshara. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 405 

be taxed by a parliament, in which they were not and ^-h^pxiv 
could not be represented, or support their brethren 
who were selected to sustain the first shock of a power 
which, if successful there, would overwhelm them 
all. The neighbouring towns, disdaining to avail 
themselves of the calamities inflicted on a sister for 
her exertions in the common cause, clung to her with 
increased affection ; and that spirit of enthusiastic pa- General 

^ • ^. 1 • 1 r • 1 1 • 1 1 enthusiasm 

tnotism, which, tor a time, elevates the mind above 
all considerations of individual acquisition, became 
the ruling passion in the American bosom. 

On receiving intelligence of the Boston port bill, 
a meeting of the people of that town was called. 
They perceived that " the sharpest, sharpest conflict" 
was indeed approaching, but were not dismayed by 
its terrors. Far from seeking to shelter themselves 
from the threatening storm by submission, diey grew 
more determined as it increased. 

Resolutions were passed, expressing their opinion 
of the impolicy, injustice, inhumanity, and cruelty of 
the act, from which they appealed to God, and to the 
world ; and also inviting the other colonies to join 
with them in an agreement to stop all imports and ex- 
ports to and from Great Britain, Ireland, and the 
West Indies, until the act should be repealed.* 

It was not in Boston only that this spirit was rous- 
ed. Addresses were received from every part of the 
continent, expressing sentiments of symi)athy in their 
afflictions, exhorting them to resolution and perseve- 

• Minot. 



4'06 HISTORY OF TH£ 

CHAP, xiy ranee, and assurina: them that they were considered 
as siitienng in the common cause. 

The legislature of Virginia was in session when 
intelligence of the Boston port bill reached that pro- 
vince. The house of Burgesses set apart the first of 
June, the day on which the bill was to go into opera- 
tion, for fasting, prayer, and humiliation, to implore 
the divine interposition to avert the heavy calamity 
which threatened the destruction of their civil rights, 
and the evils of a civil war ; and to give one heart and 
one mind to the people, firmly to oppose every inva- 
sion of their liberties. Similar resolutions were adopt- 
ed in almost every province ; and the first of June be- 
came, throughout the colonies, a day of fasting, hu- 
miliation, and prayer, in the course of which sermons 
were preached to the people, well calculated to in- 
spire them with horror, against the authors of the un- 
just sufferings of their fellow subjects in Boston. 

This measure occasioned the dissolution of the as- 
sembly. The members, before separation, entered 
into an association, in which they declared that an 
attack on one colony to compel submission to arbitra- 
ry taxes, is an attack on all British America, and 
threatens ruin to the rights of all, unless the united 
wisdom of the whole be applied in prevention. They^ 
therefore, recommended to the committee of corres- 
pondence, to communicate with the several commit- 
tees of the other provinces, on the expediency of ap- 
A general pointing deputies from the different colonies to meet 
proposed, annually in congress, and to deliberate on the com- 



AMERICAN COLONIES, 407 

men interests of America. This measure had aheady 9"^^p-X^Y 
been proposed in town meetings, both in New York 
and Boston. 

While the people of Boston were engaged in the 
first consultations respecting the bill directed particu- 
larly ao;ainst themselves, general Gaare arrived in General 

J ^ ^ . -11 Gagear- 

town. He was received, notwithstanding the deepnvesin 
gloom of the moment, with those external marks of 
respect which had been usual, and which were sup- 
posed to belong to his station. 

The general court convened by the governor at 
Salem, passed resolutions, declaring the expediency 
of a meeting of committees from the several colonies; 
and appointed five gentlemen as a committee on the 
part of Massachusetts. The colonies from New 
Hampshire to South Carolina inclusive, adopted this 
measure ; and, where the legislatures were not in ses- 
sion, elections were made by the people. The legis- 
lature of Massachusetts also passed declaratory reso- 
lutions expressing their opinion on the state of public 
affairs, and recommending to the inhabitants of that 
province to renounce, totally, the consumption of 
East India teas, and'to discontinue the use of all goods 
imported from the East Indies and Great Britain, un- 
til the grievances of America should be completely 
redressed. 

The governor, having obtained intelligence of the 
manner in which the house was employed, sent his 
secretary with directions to dissolve the assembly. 
Finding the doors shut, and being refused admittance, 



408 HISTORY OF THE 

€HAP XTV ]^e Ye2i6 the order of dissolution aloud on the staircase. 

1774. 

The next day, the i^overnor received an address from 
the principal inhabitants of Salem, at that time the 
metropolis of the province, \^hich marks the deep 
impression made by a sense of common dangler. No 
lonp;er considering themselves as the inhabitants of 
Salem, but as Americans, and spurning advantages to 
be derived to themselves from the distress inflicted 
on a sister town, for its zeal in a cause common to all, 
they expressed their deep affliction for the calamities 
of Boston. 

About this time rough drafts of the two remaining 
bills relative to the province of Massachusetts, as well 
as of that for quartering troops in America, were re- 
ceived in Boston, and circulated through the continent. 
They served to confirm the wavering, to render the 
moderate indignant, and to inflame the violent. 

An agreement was framed by the committee of 
correspondence in Boston, entitled " a solemn league 
and covenant,'^ whereby the subscribers bound them- 
selves, " in the presence of God," to suspend all com- 
mercial intercourse with Great Britain, from the last 
day of the ensuing month of August, until the Bos- 
ton port bill, and the other late obnoxious laws should 
be repealed. They also bound themselves, in the 
same manner, not to consume, or purchase from any 
other, any goods whatever which should arrive after 
the specified time ; and to break off all dealings with 
the purchasers as well as with the importers of such 
goods. They renounced, also all intercourse and con- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 409 

nexion with those who should refuse to subscribe tr> chap xiv 

1 -1111 *''''*• 

that covenant, or to bind themselves by some similar 

agreement ; and annexed to the renunciation of inter- 
course, the dangerous penalty of publishing to the 
world, the names of all who refused to give this evi- 
dence of attachment to the rights of their country. 

General Gage issued a proclamation in which he 
termed this covenant " an unlawful, hostile, and trai- 
terous combination, contrary to the allegiance due to 
the King, destructive of the legal authority of parlia- 
ment, and of the peace, good order, and safety of the 
community." All persons were warned against in- 
curring the pains and penalties due to such dangerous 
offences ; and all magistrates were charged to appre- 
hend and secure for trial such as should be miiltv of 
them. But the time when the proclamations of go- 
vernors could command attention had passed away ; 
and the penalties in the power of the committee of 
correspondence were much more dreaded than those 
which could be inflicted by the civil magistrate.* 

Resolutions were passed in every colony in which 
legislatures were convened, or delegates assembled 
in convention, manifesting different degrees of resent- * 

ment, but concurring in the same great principles. 
All declared that the cause of Boston was the cause 
of British America ; that the late acts respecting that 
devoted town were tyrannical and unconstitutional ; 
that the opposition to this ministerial system of op- 
pression ought to be universally and perseveringly 

• Belsham. Minot. 

3F 



4i HISTORY OF THE 

^^^n^^^ maintained ; that all intercourse with the parent state 
ought to be suspended, and domestic manufactures 
encouraged ; and that a general congress should be 
formed for the purpose of uniting and guiding the 
councils, and directing the efforts, of North America. 
The committees of correspondence selected Phila- 
delphia for the place, and the beginning of Septem- 
ber as the time, for the meeting of this important 
council. 
SSbie's. O" t^ie fou^'th of September, the delegates from 
eleven* provinces appeared at the place appointed ; 
and, the next day, they assembled at Carpenter's Hall, 
M hen Peyton Randolph, late speaker of the house of 
Burgesses of Virginia, was unanimously chosen pre- 
sident. The respective credentials of the members 
were then read and approved ; and this august as- 
sembly, having determined that each colony should 
have only one vote ; that their deliberations should be 
conducted with closed doors; and that their proceed- 
ings, except such as they might determine to publish, 
should be kept inviolably secret; entered on the 
solemn and important duties assigned to them.f 

* Committees were appointed to state the rights 

claimed by the colonies, which had been infringed by 
acts of parliament passed since the year 1763 ; to pre- 
pare a petition to the King, and addresses to the peo- 
ple of Great Britain, to the inhabitants of the province 

" Those of North Carolina arrived on the fourteenth. 
I See note No. 7, at the end of the volume. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 411 

of Quebec, and to the twelve colonies represented inHLiLHY- 
congress. 

Certain resolutions* of the county of Suffolk in Mas- 
sachusetts, having been taken into consideration, it 
was unanimously resolved " that this assembly deep- 
ly feels the suffering of their countrymen in Massa- 
chusetts Bay, under the operation of the late unjust, 
cruel, and oppressive acts of the British parliament ; 
that they most thoroughly approve the wisdom and 
fortitude with which opposition to these wicked min- 
isterial measures has hitherto been conducted ; and 
they earnestly recommend to their brethren, a perse- 
verance in the same firm and temperate conduct, as 
expressed in the resolutions determined upon, at a 
meeting of the delegates for the county of Suffolk, 
on Tuesday the sixth instant ; trusting that the effect 
of the united efforts of North America in their behalf, 
will carry such conviction to the British nation of the 
unwise, unjust, and ruinous policy of the present ad- 
ministration, as quickly to introduce better men, and 
wiser measures." 

It was resolved, unanimously, " that contributions 
from all the colonies, for supplying the necessities, 
and alleviating the distresses of our brethren in Bos- 
ton, ought to be continued, in such manner, and so 
long, as their occasions may require." 

The merchants of the several colonies were re- 
quested not to send to Great Britain any orders for 
goods, and to direct the execution of those already 

* See note No. 8, at the end of the volume. 



•iia HISTORY OF THE 

cHAP .xtv.sent to be suspended, until the sense of congress on 
the means to be taken for preserving the liberties of 
America, be made public. In a few days, resolutions 
were passed, suspending the importation of goods 
from Great Britain, or Ireland, or any of their depen- 
dencies, and of their manufactures from any place 
whatever, after the first day of the succeeding De- 
cember ; and against the purchase or use of such 
goods. It was also determined that all exports to 
Great Britain, Ireland, and the West Indies, should 
cease on the 10th of September, 1775, unless Ame- 
rican grievances should be redressed before that time ' 
An association, corresponding with these resolutions, 
was then framed, and signed by every member pre- 
sent. Never were laws more faithfully observed, 
than were these resolutions of congress ; and their as- 
sociation was, of consequence, universally adopted. 

Early in the session, a declaration* of rights was 
made in the shape of resolutions. This paper merits 
particular attention, because it states precisely the 
ground then taken by America. It is observable that 
it asserted rights which were not generally maintain- 
ed, at the commencement of the contest ; but the ex- 
clusive right of legislation in the colonial assemblies, 
with the exception of acts of the British parliament 
bona fide made to regulate external commerce, was 
not averred unanimously. 

The addresses prepared, the various papers drawn 
up, and the measures recommended by this congress, 

• See note No. 9, at the end of the volume. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 413 

form the best eulogy of the members who rnmpny;ed ch apxiv . 
it. Affection to the mother country, an exalted ad- 
miration of her national character, unwillingness to 
separate from her, a knowledge of the hazards and 
difficulties of the approaching contest, mingled with 
enthusiastic patriotism, and a conviction that all which 
can make life valuable was at stake, characterise their 
proceedings. 

" When," they say in the address to the people of Address to 

■' ■' * ^ the people 

Great Britain, " a nation led to greatness by the hand or Great 
of liberty, and possessed of all the glory that heroism, 
munificence, and humanity, can bestow, descends to 
the ungrateful task of forffina: chains for her friends 
and children, and, instead of giving support to free- 
dom turns advocate for slavery and oppression, there 
is reason to suspect she has either ceased to be virtu- 
ous, or been extremely negligent in the appointment 
of her rulers. 

" In almost every age, in repeated conflicts, in long 
and bloody wars, as well civil as foreign, against many 
and pow erfrd nations, against the open assaults of ene- 
mies, and the more dangerous treachery of friends, 
have the inhabitants of your island, your great and 
glorious ancestors, maintained their independence, 
and transmitted the rights of men and the blessings of 
liberty to you their posterity. 

" Be not surprised therefore that we, who are de- 
scended from the same common ancestors, that we, 
whose forefathers participated in all the rights, the 
liberties, and the constitution, you so justly boast of, 



^l-i HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiv. gj^jj ^.j^Q hgyg carefully conveyed the same fair inhe- 
ritance to us, guaranteed by the plighted faith of go- 
vernment, and the most solemn compacts with British 
sovereigns, should refuse to surrender them to men, 
who found their claims on no principles of reason, and 
who prosecute them with a design, that by having 
our lives and property in their power, they may with 
the greater facility enslave z/ow." 

After stating the serious condition of American af- 
fairs, and the oppressions, and misrepresentations of 
their conduct, which had induced the address ; and 
their claim to be as free as their fellow subjects in 
Britain ; they say, " are not the proprietors of the soil 
of Great Britain lords of their own property? Can 
it be taken from them without their consent ? Will 
they yield it to the arbitrary disposal of any men, or 
number of men whatever ? You know they will not. 

" Why then are the proprietors of the soil of Ame- 
rica less lords of their property than you are of yours, 
or vvhy should they submit it to the disposal of your 
parliament, or any other parliament or council in the 
world, not of their election ? Can the intervention of 
the sea that divides us cause disparity of rights, or can 
any reason be given vvhy English subjects, who live 
three thousand miles from the royal palace, should 
enjoy less liberty than those who are three hundred 
miles distant from it ? 

" Reason looks with indignation on such distinc- 
tions, and freemen can never perceive their propriety." 
- After expatiating on the resources which the con- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 415 

quest of America would place in the hands of the ^^j^^ ^^' 
crown for the subjugation of Britain, the address pro- 
ceeds, " we believe there is yet much virtue, much 
justice, and much public spirit in the English nation. 
To that justice we now appeal. You have been told 
that we are seditious, impatient of government, and 
desirous of independency. Be assured that these are 
not facts but calumnies. Permit us to be as free as 
yourselves, and we shall ever esteem a union with 
you to be our greatest glory, and our greatest hap- 
piness ; — we shall ever be ready to contribute all in 
our power to the welfare of the empire ; — ue shall 
consider your enemies as our enemies, and your in- 
terest as our own. 

"But if you are determined that your ministers shall 
wantonly sport with the rights of mankind; — if neither 
the voice of justice, the dictates of the law, the prin- 
ciples of the constitution, nor the suggestions of hu- 
manity, can restrain your hands from shedding hu- 
man blood in such an impious cause, we must then 
tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of 
wood or drawers of water for any ministry or nation 
in the world. 

" Place us in the same situation that we were at 
the close of the late war, and our former harmony will 
be restored."* 



" The committee which prepared this eloquent and manly address, were 
Mr. Lee, Mi . Livingston, and Mv. Jay. The composition has been generally 
attributed to Mr, Jay. 



4^16 HISTORY OF THE 

9M^^IY The petition to the King states succinctly the griev 
Petition to anccs coniplained of, and then proceeds to sav, 

the King. tt i 

" Had our creator been pleased to give us existence 
in a land of slavery, the sense of our condition might 
have been mitigated by ignorance and habit. But 
thanks be to his adorable goodness, we were born the 
heirs of freedom, and ever enjoyed our right under 
the auspices of your roval ancestors, whose family 
was seated on the British throne, to rescue and secure 
a pious and gallant nation from the popery and des- 
potism of a superstitious and inexorable tyrant. Your 
majesty, we are confident, jusUy rejoices that your 
title to the crown is thus founded on the tide of your 
people to liberty ; and, therefore, we doubt not but 
your royal wisdom must approve the sensibility that 
teaches your subjects anxiously to guard the blessing 
they received from divine providence, and thereby to 
prove the performance of that compact, which elevated 
the illustrious house of Brunswick to the imperial 
dignity it now possesses. 

" The apprehensions of being degraded into a state 
of servitude, from the pre-eminent rank of English 
freemen, while our minds retain the strongest love of 
liberty, and clearly foresee the miseries preparing for 
us and for our posterity, excites emotions in our 
breasts, which, though we cannot describe, we should 
not wish to conceal. Feeling as men, and thinking 
as subjects, in the manner we do, silence would be 
dislo)alty. By giving this faithful information, we 
do all in our power to promote the great objects of 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 417 

your royal cares — ihe tranquillity of your government, chap.xiv 
and the welfare of your people. 

" Duty to your majesty and regard for the preser- 
vation of ourselves and our posterity, — the primary 
obligations of nature and society, command us to en- 
treat your royal attention ; and as your majesty enjoys 
the signal distinction of reigning over freemen, we ap- 
prehend the language of freemen cannot be displeas- 
ing. Your royal indignation, we hope, will rather fall 
on those designing and dangerous men, who, daring- 
ly interposing themselves between your royal person 
and your faithful subjects, and for several years past 
incessantly employed to dissolve the bonds of socie- 
ty, by abusing your majesty's authority, misrepre- 
senting your American subjects, and prosecuting the 
most desperate and irritating projects of oppression, 
have at length compelled us, by the force of accumu- 
lated injuries, too severe to be any longer tolerable, 
to disturb your majesty's repose by our complaints. 

" These sentiments are extorted from hearts that 
much more willingly would bleed in your majesty's 
service. Yet so greatly have we been misrepresent- 
ed, that a necessity has been alleged of taking our 
property from us without our consent, to defray the 
charge of the administration of justice, the support of 
civil government, and the defence, protection, and se- 
curity of the colonies," 

After assuring his majesty of the untruth of these 
allegations, they say, "yielding to no British subjects 
in affectionate attachment to your majesty^s person, 
3 G 



418 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIV family, and government, we too dearly prize the pri- 
vilege of expressing that attachment, by those proofs 
that are honourable to the prince that receives them, 
and to the people who give them, ever to resign it to 
any body of men upon earth. 

" We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. We 
wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor do we 
solicit the grant of any new right in our favour. Your 
royal authority over us, and our connexion with Great 
Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously en- 
deavour to support and maintain." 

After re-stating in a very affecting manner the most 
essential grievances of which they complain, and 
professing that their future conduct, if their apprehen- 
sions should be removed, would prove them worthy 
of the regard they had been accustomed, in their hap- 
pier days to enjoy, they add, 

" Permit us then most gracious sovereign, in the 
name of all your faithful people in America, with the 
utmost humility to implore you, for the honour of 
Almighty God, whose pure religion our enemies are 
undermining; for your glory which can be advanced 
only by rendering your subjects happy, and keeping 
them united ; for the interest of your family, depend- 
ing on an adherence to the principles that enthroned 
it ; for the safety and welfare of your kingdom and 
dominions, threatened with almost unavoidable dan- 
gers and distresses ; that your majesty, as the loving 
father of your whole people, connected by the same 
bonds of law, loyalty, faith, and blood, though dwell- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 4(19 

t 

ing in various countries, will not suffer the transcen- ^^^^^!^^'^* 
dent relation formed by these ties, to be farther vio- 
lated, in uncertain expectation of effects thnt, if at- 
tained, never can compensate for the calamities, 
through which they must be gained.* 

The address to their constituents is replete with A.uiipssto 

the A.ueri- 

serious and temperate argument. In this paper, the can people. 
several causes which had led to the existing state of 
things, were detailed more at large : and much labour 
was used to convince their judgments that their liber- 
ties must be destroyed, and the security of their pro- 
perty and persons annihilated, by submission to the 
pretensions of Great Britain. The first object of con- 
gress being to unite the people of America, by de- 
monstrating the sincerity with which their leaders had 
sought for reconciliation on terms compatible with 
liberty, great earnestness was used in proving that the 
conduct of the colonists had been uniformly moderate 
and blameless. After declaring their confidence in 
the efficacy of the mode of commercial resistance 
which had been recommended, the address concludes 
with saying, " your own salvation, and that of your 
posterity, now depends upon yourselves. You have 
already shown that you entertain a proper sense of the 
blessings you are striving to retain. Against the tem- 
porary inconveniences you may suffer from a stoppage 
of trade, you will weigh in the opposite balance, the 

• The committee which brought in this admirably well drawn, and truly 
conciliatory address, were Mr. Lee, Mr. John Adams, Mr. Johnson, Mr. 
Htniy, Mr. Rutledge, and Mr. Dickinson. The original composition has 
Iteen generally attributed to Mr. Dickinson. 



4S0 HISTORY OF THE 

* 

2!i£L2EIY endless miseries you and your descendants must en 
dure, from an established arbitrary power. You will 
not forget the honour of your country, that must, 
from your behaviour, take its title in the estimation of 
the world to glory or to shame; and you will, with the 
deepest attention, reflect, that if the peaceable mode 
of opposition recommended by us, be broken and 
rendered ineffectual, as your cruel and haughty minis- 
terial enemies, from a contemptuous opinion of your 
firmness, insolently predict will be the case, you must 
inevitably be reduced to choose, either a more danger- 
ous contest, or a final, ruinous, and infamous sub- 
mission. 

*' Motives thus cogent, arising from the emergen- 
cy of your unhappy condition, must excite your ut- 
most diligence and zeal, to give all possible strength 
and energy to the pacific measures calculated for your 
relief. But we think ourselves bound in duty to ob- 
serve to you, that the schemes agitated against the 
Colonies have been so conducted, as to render it pru- 
dent that you should extend your views to mournful 
events, and be in all respects prepared for every con- 
tingency. Above all things, we earnestly entreat you, 
with devotion of spirit, penitence of heart, and amend- 
ment of life, to humble yourselves, and implore the 
favour of Almighty God ; and we fervently beseech 
his divine goodness to take you into his gracious pro- 
tection.'^* 

• Mr. Lee, Mr. Livingston, and Mr. Jay, were also the committee who 
brought in liiis address. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 431 

I'he letter to the people of Canada required no In- chafxiV. 
"onsiderable degree of address. The extent of that 
province was not so alarming to its inhabitants as to 
their neighbours ; and it was not easy to persuade the 
French settlers, who were far the most numerous, 
that the establishment of their religion, and the partial 
toleration of their ancient jurisprudence, were acts of 
oppression which ought to be resisted. This delicate 
subject was managed with considerable dexterity, and 
the prejudices of the Canadians were assailed with 
some success. 

Letters were also addressed to the colonies of St. 
Johns, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and the Floridas, invit- 
ing them to unite with their brethren in a cause com- 
mon to all British America*. 

After completing the business before them, and 
recommending that another Congress should be held 
at the same place on the tenth of the succeeding May, 
the House dissolved itself. 

The proceedings of Congress were read through- October. 
out America, with enthusiastic admiration. Their 
recommendations were revered as revelations, and 
obeyed as laws of the strongest obligation. Absolute 
unanimity could not be expected to exist 5 but seldom 
has a whole people been more united ; and never did 
a more sincere and perfect conviction of the justice of 
a cause animate the human bosom, than was felt by 
the great body of the Americans. The people, gene- 

• Tliesp letters, as well as that lo the inhabitants of the province of Quebec, 
were prepared by Mr. Cushingj Mr. Lee, and Mr. Dickinson. 



4S2 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiv . rally, made great exertions to arm and discipline 
themselves. Independent companies of gentlemen 
were formed in al) the colonies ; and the whole face 
of the country exhibited the aspect of approaching 
war. Yet the measures of Congress demonstrate 
that, although resistance by force was contemplated 
as a possible event, the hope was fondly cherished 
that the non- importation of British goods would in- 
duce a repeal of the late odious acts. It is impossible 
to account for the non-importation agreement itself- 
Had war been considered as inevitable, every princi- 
ple of sound policy required that imports should be 
encouraged, and the largest possible stock of sup- 
plies for an army be obtained. 
New coun- With the laws relative to the province, governor 
judges. "' Gage received a list of thirty two new counsellors, 
a sufficient number of whom, to carry on the busi- 
ness of the government, accepted the office, and en- 
tered on its duties. 

All those who accepted offices under the new sys- 
tem, were denounced as enemies to their country. 
The new judi^es were unable to proceed in the ad- 
ministration of justice. When the court houses were 
opened, the people crowded into them in such num- 
bers that the judges could not obtain admittance; 
and, on being ordered by the officers to make way 
for the court, they answered that they knew no court, 
independent of the ancient laws and usages of their 
country, and to no other would they submit.* The 

' Minot. 



AMEUICAN COLONIES. 4S3 

houses of the new counsellors were surrounded by?!ilZJEIX 

•' 1(74. 

gjreat bodies of people, whose threats announced to Obliged to 

. 1 • rr resign. 

them that they must resign their ottices, or be expos- 
ed to the fury of an enraged populace. The first part 
of the alternative was generally embraced. 

In this irritable state of the public mind, and criti- 
cal situation of public affairs, it was to be expected 
that every day would furnish new matter of discon- 
tent and jealousy. General Gage deemed it a neces- 
sary measure of security, to fortify Boston neck ; and 
this circumstance induced the inhabitants to contem- Boston 

neck torti' 

plate seriously an evacuation of the town, and removal fied. 
into the country. Congress was consulted on this 
proposition ; but was deterred from recommending it, 
by the difficulties attending the measure. It was 
however referred to the provincial congress, with the 
declaration that, if the removal should be deemed 
necessary, the expense attending it ought to be borne 
Dv all the colonies. 

The fortification of Boston neck was followed by a 
measure which excited still greater alarm. The time 
for the general muster of the militia approached. 
Under real or pretended apprehensions from their 
violence, the amiiiunition and stores which were 
lodged in the provincial arsenal at Cambridge, and Military 

stoics S61Z" 

the powder in the maga^zines at Charlestown, anded by gene- 
some other places which was partly private and part-'^'' ^"^^ 
ly provincial property, were seized, by order of the 
governor, and conveyed to Boston. 

Under the ferment excited by this measure, the 
people assembled in great numbers, and were with 



434 HISTORY OF THE 

<^"-^P;^^"^ - difficulty dissuaded from marching to Boston, and 
demanding a re-delivery of the stores. Not long after- 
wards, the fort at Portsmouth in New Hampshire was 
stormed by an armed body of provincials ; and the 
powder it contained was transported to a place of 
safety. A similar measure uas adopted in Rhode 
Island. 

About the same time a report reached Connecticut 
that the ships and troops had attacked Boston, and 
were actually firing on the town. Several thousand 
men immediately assembled in arms, and marched 
with great expedition a considerable distance, before 
they were undeceived. 

It was in the midst of these ferments, and while 
these indications of an opinion that hostilities might 
be expected daily were multiplying on every side, that 
the people of SufFtilk assembled in convention, and 
passed the resolutions already mentioned, which in 
boldness surpass any that had been adopted. 

Before the general agitation had risen to its pre- 
sent alarming height, governor Gage had issued writs 
for the election of members to a general assembly. 
These writs w ere afterwards countermanded by pro- 
clamation ; but the proclamation was disregarded; the 
elections v\ ere held ; and the delegates, who assem- 
bled and voted themselves a provincial congress, 
Provincial couducted the affairs of the colony as if they had 
Massachu'" been regularly invested with all the powers of go- 
vernment ; atid their recommendations were respected 
as sacred laws. 

They drew up a plan for the defence of the pro- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 



4i25 



vince ; provided magazines, ammunition and stores ^IL^^iEZ 
for twelve thousand militia; and enrolled a number P'epares 

. • 1 c 1 'or defence, 

of minute men, a term designatmg a select part ot the 
militia, who engaged to appear in arms at a minutes 
warning. 

On the approach of winter, the general had order- 
ed temporary barracks to be erected for the troops, 
partly for their security, and partly to prevent the dis- 
orders which would unavoidably result from quar- 
tering them in the town. Such however was the de- 
testation in which they were held, that the select men 
and committees obliged the workmen to desist from 
the work, although they were paid for their labour by 
the crown, and although employment could, at that 
time, be seldom obtained. He was not much more 
successful in his endeavours to obtain carpenters in 
New York ; and it was with considerable difficulty 
that these temporary lodgments could be erected. 

The agency for purchasing winter covering for the 
troops was offered to almost every merchant in New 
York ; but such was the danger of engaging in this 
odious employment, that not only those who were 
attached to the party resisting the views of adminis- 
tration, but those also who were in secret friendly to 
those views, refused undertaking it, and declared 
" that they never would supply any article for the 
benefit of men who were sent as enemies to their . 
country." 

In Great Britain, a new parliament was assembled icing's 

* _ speech to 

and the King, in his opening speech, informed them, parliament. 
3H 



426 



HISTORY OF THE 



!fiMii^-£[y " that a most daring spirit of resistance and disobe- 
dience still prevailed in Massachusetts, and had 
broken forth in fresh violences of a very criminal na- 
ture ; that the most proper and effectual measures had 
been taken to prevent these mischiefs ; and that they 
might depend upon a firm resolution to withstand 
every attempt to weaken or impair the supreme au- 
thority of this legislature over all the dominions of the 
croun." 
Proceed- The addresscs re-echoed the sentiments of the 
bo'dy, speech ; all amendments to which were rejected in 
both houses by cons derable majorities.* Yet the 
business respecting America was not promptly intro- 
duced. Administration seems to have hesitated on 
the course to be adopted ; and the cabinet is said to 
1775. have been divided respecting future measures. The 
few friends of conciliation availed themselves of this 
delay, to bring forward propositions which might re- 
store harmony to the empire. Lord Chatham was 
not yet dead. " This splendid orb,'' to use the bold 
metaphor of Mr. Burke, " was not yet entirely set. 
The western horizon was still in a blaze with his de- 
scending glory ;" and the evening of a life which had 
exhibited one bright unchequered course of elevated 
patriotism, was devoted to the service of that country 
whose aggrandisement seemed to have swallowed up 
. every other passion of his soul. Taking a prophetic 
view of the future, he demonstrated the impossibility 
of subjugating America, and urged, with all the 

• Belsham. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 42/ 

powers of his vast mind, the immediate removal of£!iAZ:HX 
the troops from Boston, as a measure indispensably 
necessary, to open the way for an adjustment of the 
existing differences with the colonies. Not discour- 
aged by the great majority against this motion, he 
brought forward a bill for settling the troubles in 
America, which was rejected by sixty-one to thirty 
two voices. 

The day after the rejection of this bill, lord North 
moved, in the house of commons, an address to his 
Majesty, declaring that, from a serious consideration 
of the American papers, " they find a rebellion actu- 
ally exists in the province of Massachusetts Bay." In 
the course of the debate on this address, several pro- 
fessional gentlemen spoke with the utmost contempt 
of the mihtary character of the Americans ; and ge- 
neral Grant, who ought to have known better, de- 
clared that " at the head of five regiments of infantry, 
he would undertake to traverse the whole country, 
and drive the inhabitants from one end of the conti- 
nent to the other.'' 

The address was carried by 288 to 106 ; and on a 
conference, the house of lords agreed to join in it. 
Lord North, soon after, moved a bill for restraining 
the trade and commerce of the New England provin- 
ces, and prohibiting them from carrying on the fishe- 
ries on the banks of Newfoundland.* 

While this bill was depending, and only vengeance 
was breathed by the majority, his lordship, to the as- 

• Belsham. 



428 HISTORY OF TKE 

CHAP. XIV tnnkhmpnt of all, suddenlv moved, what he termed, 

1775, ' ^ 

his conciliatory proposition. Its amount was, that 
parliament would forbear to tax any colony, which 
should tax itself in such a sum as would be perfectly 
satisfactory. Apparent as it must have been that this 
proposition would not be accepted in America, it 
was received with indignation by the majority of the 
house j and ministers found some difficulty in show- 
ing that it was in maintenance of the right to tax the 
colonies. Before it could be adopted lord North con- 
descended to make the dangerous, and not very re- 
putable acknowledgment, that it was a proposition de- 
signed to divide America, and to unite Great Britain. 
It was transmitted to the governors of the several co- 
lonies, in a circular letter from lord Dartmouth, with 
directions to use their utmost influence to prevail on 
the legislatures to accede to the proposed compromise. 
These endeavours were not successful. The colo- 
nists were universally impressed with too strong a 
conviction of the importance of union, and understood 
too well the real principle of the contest, to suffer 
themselves to be divided or deceived by a proposi- 
tion, conciliatory only in name. 

After the passage of the bill for restraining the 
trade of New England, information was received that 
the inhabitants of the middle and southern colonies, 
were supporting their northern brethren in every 
measure of opposition. In consequence of this intel- 
ligence, a second bill was passed for imposing simi- 
lar restrictions on East and West Jersey, Pennsyl- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 429 

vania, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, and the ^"^^^^'^^ 
counties on the Delaware. The favourite colonies 
of New York and North Carolina were omitted, as 
being less disaffected than the others. Fortunately, 
some time afterwards, the house of commons refused 
to hear a petition from the legislature of New York, 
which alone had declined acceding to the resolutions 
of congress, on the suggestion of the minister that it 
contained claims incompatible with the supremacy of 
parliament. This haughty rejection had some tenden- 
cy to convince the advocates of milder measures than 
had been adopted in their sister colonies, that there 
was no medium between resistance and absolute sub- 
mission. 

The King's speech, and the proceedings of parlia- 
ment, served only to convince the leaders of opposi- 
tion in America, that they must indeed prepare to 
meet '* mournful events.^' They had flattered them- 
selves that the union of the colonies, the petition of 
congress to the King, and the address to the people 
of Great Britain, would produce happy effects. But 
these measures removed the delusion. The provin- 
cial congress of Massachusetts pubhshed a resolution 
informing the people that there was real cause to fear 
that the reasonable and just applications of that con- 
tinent to Great Britain for peace, liberty, and safety, 
would not meet with a favourable reception; that, on 
the contrary, the tenor of their intelligence, and gene- 
ral appearances, furnished just cause for the appre- 
hension that the sudden destruction of that colony, at 



430 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP. XIV least, was intended. Thev therefore urared the mill- * 

1775. . . . • '^ 

tia in general, and the minute men in particular, to 
spare neither time, pains, nor expense, to perfect 
themselves in military discipline ; and also passed re- 
solutions for procuring and making fire arms and 
bayonets.* 

In the mean time, delegates were elected for the 
ensuing congress. Even in New York, where the 
influence of administration in the legislature had been 
sufficient to prevent an adoption of the recommenda- 
tions of congress, a con\ention was chosen for the 
purpose of electing members to represent that pro- 
vince in the grand council of the colonies. 

In New England, although a determination not to 
commence hostility appears to have been maintained, 
an expectation of it, and a settled purpose to repel it, 
universally prevailed. 

It was not long before the firmness of this resolu- 
tion was put to the test. 

On the night preceding the 19th of April, General 
Gage detached lieutenant colonel Smith, and major 
Pitcairn, with the grenadiers and light infantry of the 
army, amounting to eight or nine hundred men, with 
orders to destroy some military stores which had been 
collected at Concord, about eighteen miles from Bos- 
ton, notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch which 
were used, the country was alarmed by messengers 
sent out by Doctor Warren ; and, on the arrival of the 
British troops at Lexington, about five in the morn- 

* Prior documents. Minot. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 43t 



CHAP.XIV 

1775. 



ing, part of the company of militia belonging to the 
town, was found on the parade, under arms. Major 
Pitcairn, who led the van, sralloped up, calling: out, ^atueof 

' & I I ' i3 ' Lexington 

" disperse rebels, disperse.'^ He was followed close 
by his soldiers, who rushed upon the militia with loud 
huzzas. Some scattering guns were fired, which 
were immediately followed by a general discharge, 
and the firing was continued as long as any of the 
militia appeared. Eight men were killed, and seve- 
ral wounded. 

After dispatching six companies of light infantry 
to guard two bridges which lay at some distance be- 
yond the town, lieutenant colonel Smith proceeded to 
Concord. While the main body of the detachment 
was employed in destroying the stores in the town, 
some minute men and militia, who were collected 
from that place and its neighbourhood, having orders 
not to give the first fire, approached one of the bridges, 
as if to pass it in the character of common travellers. 
They were fired on, and two of them were killed. * 

The fire was instantly returned, and a skirmish ensu- 
ed, in w hich the regulars were worsted, and compell- 
ed to retreat with some loss. The alarm now be- 
coming general, the people rushed to the scene of 
action, and attacked the King's troops on all sides. 
Skirmish succeeded skirmish, and they were driven, 
from post to post, into Lexington. Fortunately for 
the British, general Gage did not entertain precisely 
the opinion of the military character of the Americans, 
which had been expressed in the house of commons 



4;33 HISTORY OF THE 

^"^775^ " Apprehending the expedition to be not entirely with- 
out hazard, he had, in the morning, detached lord 
Percy with sixteen companies of foot, a corps of ma- 
rines, and two companies of artillery, to support 
lieutenant colonel Smith. This seasonable reinforce- 
ment, happening to reach Lexington about the time 
of his arrival at that place, kept the provincials at a 
distance with their field pieces, and gave the grena- 
diers and light infantry time to breathe. But as soon 
as they resumed their march, the attack was re-com- 
menced ; and an irregular but galling fire was kept 
up on each flank, as well as in front and rear, until 
they arrived, on the common of Charlestown. With- 
out delay, they passed over the neck to Bunker's 
hill, where they remained secure for the night, under 
the protection of their ships of war ; and, early next 
morning, crossed over to Boston. 

In this action, the loss of the British in killed, 
wounded, and prisoners, was two hundred and seven- 
ty-three ; while that of the provincials did not exceed 
ninety. This affair, houever trivial in itself, was of 
great importance in its consequences. It was the 
commencement of a long and obstinate war, and had 
no inconsiderable influence on that war, by increasing 
the confidence which the Americans felt in theai- 
selves, and by encouraging opposition, with the hope 
of being successful. It supported the opinion which 
the colonists had taken up with some doubt, that 
courage and patriotism were ample substitutes for the 
knowledge of tactics ; and that their skill in the use 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 433 

of fire arms, gave them a great superiority over their chapxiv. 
adversaries. 

Althouirh the previous state of thinj^s was such as 
to render the commencement of hostilities unavoid- 
able, each party seemed anxious to throw the blame 
on its opponent. The British officers allej^ed that 
they were fired on from a stone wall, before they at- 
tacked the militia at Lexint^ton ; while the Ameri- 
cans proved, by numerous depositions, that at Lex- 
ini^ton, as well as at the bridge near Concord, the 
first fire was received by them. The statement made 
by the Americans is supported, not only by the testi- 
mony adduced, but by other circumstances. In 
numbers, the militia at Lexington did not exceed one 
ninth of the British ; and it is not probable that their 
friends would have provoked their fate while in that 
perilous situation, by commencing a fire on an enrag- 
ed soldiery. It is also worthy of attention, that the 
Americans uniformly sought to cover their proceed- 
ings with the letter of the law ; and, even after the af- 
fair at Lexington, made a point of receiving the first 
fire at the bridge beyond Concord. 

The provincial congress, desirous of manifesting 
the necessity under which the militia had acted, sent 
to their agents, the depositions w hich had been taken 
relative to the late action, with a letter to the inhabi- 
tants of Great Britain, stating th.il hostilities had been 
commenced against them, and detailing the circum- 
stances attending that event. 
31 



43^^ HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIV j3^,j ^i^gy ^jjj j^Q^ confine themselves to addresses, 

1775. J 

Massachii- They immediately passed a resolution for raising 

setis raises "' ,'., 11 ^ ■\/t 1 

men. thirteen thousand six hundred men m ivlassachusetts, 
to be commanded by general Ward ; and called on 
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, for 
their respective quotas, to complete an army of thirty 
thousand men for the common defence. They also 
authorised the receiver general to borrow one hun- 
dred thousand pounds on the credit of the colony, 
and to issue securities for the re-payment thereof, 
bearing an interest of six per centum per annum. 

The neighbouring colonies complied promptly 
with this requisition ; and, in the mean time, such 
numbers assembled voluntarily, that many were dis- 
missed in consequence of the defect of means to sub- 
sist them in the field ; and the King's troops were 
themselves blocked up in the peninsula of Boston. 

About the same time, that enterprising spirit, which 
pervaded New England, manifested itself in an ex- 
pedition of considerable merit. 

The possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, 
and the command of lakes George and Champlain, 
were objects of importance in the approaching con- 
flict. It was known that these posts were weakly 
defended; and it was believed that the feeble garri- 
sons remaining in them were the less to be dreaded, 
because they thought themselves perfectly secure. 
Under these impressions, some gentlemen of Con- 
necticut, at the head of whom were Messrs. Deane, 
Wooster, and Parsons, formed the design of seizing 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 435 

these fortresses by surprise; and borrowed a small <"^tap xiv. 
sum of money from the legislature of the colony, to 
enable them to carry on the expedition. About forty 
volunteers marched from Connecticut towards Ben- 
nington, where they expected to meet with colonel 
Ethan Allen, and to engage him to conduct the en- 
terprise, and to raise an additional number of men. 

Colonel Allen readily entered into their views, and 
engaged to meet them at Castleton. Two hundred 
and seventy men assembled at that place, where they 
were joined by colonel Arnold, who was associated 
with colonel Allen in the command. They reached 
lake Champlain in the night of the ninth of May. 
Both Allen and Arnold embarked with the first divi- 
sion consisting of eighty-three men, uho effected a 
landing without being discovered, and immediately 
marched against the fort, which, being completely 
surprised, surrendered without firing a gun. The Ticondero- 
garrison consisted of only forty-four rank and file, sed. 
commanded by a captain and one lieutenant. From 
Ticonderoga, colonel Ssth Warren was detached 
to take possession of Crown Point, which was garri-c^^^n 
soned only by a serieant and twelve men. This ser- ^'"''' *"'"" 

J J J renders. 

vice was immediately executed, and the fort was 
taken without opposition. 

At both these places, military stores of considera- 
ble value fell into the hands of the Americans. The 
pass at Skeensborough was seized about the same 
time by a body of volunteers from Connecticut. 

To complete the objects of the expedition, it was 



It 



436 HISTORY OF THE 

^"^P ^X: necessary to obtain the command of the lakes, which 
could be accomplished only by seizing a sloop of uar 
lyinj^ at St. Johns. This service was effected by 
Arnold, who, having manned and armed a schooner 
found in South bay, surprised the sloop, and took 
possession of her without opposition. 

Thus, by the enterprise of a few individuals, and 
without the loss of a single man, the important posts 
of Ticonderoga and Crown Point were acquired, with 
the command of the lakes on which they stand. 

MetingoF IiiteUiiJ:ence of the capture of Ticonderoga was im- 

congress. _ '^ ^ ' y 

mediately transmitted to congress, then just assem- 
bled at Philadeljjhia. The resolutions passed on 
the occasion, furnish strong evidence of the solicitude 
felt by that body, to exonerate the government, in the 
opinion ol the people, from all suspicion of provok- 
ing a c( ntinuance of the war, by transcending the 
Proceed, limits of Self defence. Indubitable evidence, it was 
body? asserted, had been received of a design for a cruel in- 
vasion of the colonies from Canada, for the purpose 
of destroying their lives and liberties; and it was 
averred that some steps had actually been taken to- 
wards carrying this design into execution. To a jus- 
tifiable desire of securing themselves from so heavy a 
calamity, was attributed the seizure of the posts on the 
lakes by the neighbouring inhabitants ; and it was re- 
commended to the committees of New York and Alba- 
ny to take immediate measures for the removal of the 
cannon and military stores to some place on the south 
end of lake George, there to be preserved in safety. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 4*37 

An exact inventory of the stores was directed to be ^"^p^^v- 

i775, 

taken, " in order that they might be safely returned, 
when the restoration of the former harmony between 
Great Britain and the colonies, so ardently wished for 
by the latter, should render it prudent, and consistent 
with the over-ruling law of self preservation.'' 

Measures, however, were adopted to maintain the 
posts ; but, to quiet the apprehensions of their neigh- 
bours, congress resolved that, having nothing more 
in view than self defence, " no expedition or incur- 
sion ought to be undertaken or made by any colony, 
or body of colonists, against, or into, Canada.'' 

This resolution was translated into the French lan- 
guage, and transmitted to the people of that province, 
in a letter in which all their feelings, and particularly 
their known attachment to France, were dexterously 
assailed ; and the effort was earnestly made to kin- 
dle in their bosoms, that enthusiastic love of liberty 
which was felt too strongly by the authors of the let- 
ter, to permit the belief that it could be inoperative 
with others. 

During these transactions, generals Howe, Bour- 
goyne, and Clinton, arrived at Boston, soon after 
which general Gage issued a proclamation declaring 
martial law to be in force, and offering pardon to 
those who would lay down their arms and submit to 
the King, with the exception of Samuel Adams, and 
John Hancock. 

On receiving intelligence of the battle of Lexing- 
ton, New York appeared to hesitate no longer. In 



438 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP XIV. tj-iflt place also, the spirit which animated the colonies 
generally, obtained the ascendancy. Yet the royal 
party remained formidable ; and it was thou.^ht advi- 
sable to march a body of Connecticut troops into the 
neighbourhood, professedly to protect the town against 
some British regiments expected from Ireland, but 
really with the design of protecting the patriotic party. 
The middle and southern colonies, though not so 
forward as those of the north, laid aside the establish- 
ed government, and prepared for hostilities. 
Transac- In Virginia, the governor, lord Dunmore, had just 
v^irginia. rctumcd from a successful expedition against the In- 
dians, in which he had acquired considerable popu- 
larity. Presuming too much on the favour of the 
moment, and dissatisfied with some recommendations 
concerning the militia and independent companies 
made by the colonial convention which had assem- 
bled in Richmond, he employed the captain of an 
armed vessel then lying in James river, a few miles 
from Williamsburg, to convey to his ship by night, 
a part of the powder in the magazine, belonging to the 
colony. 

This measure, though conducted with great secre- 
cy, was discovered; and the people of the town a »• 
sembled next morning in arms, for the purpose of de- 
manding restitution of the property which had been 
taken. The magistrates, having prevailed on them 
to disperse, presented an address to the governor, re- 
monstrating against the removal of the povvder, which 
they alleged to be the more injurious, because it was 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 439 

necessary for their defence in the event of an insur- ^!L^^2EiI: 
rection among their slaves. 

The governor acknou ledged that the powder had 
been removed by his order, but gave assurances that 
he would restore it, if an insurrection of the slaves 
should render the measure necessary. Unsatisfac- 
tory as this answer was, no farther means were used 
in Williamsburg for its recovery. 

This transaction excited a strong sensation in the 
interior of the country. Meetings were held in seve- 
ral counties, and the conduct of the governor was 
greatly condemned. The independent companies of 
Hanover and King William, at the instance of Mr. 
Patrick Henry, a member of congress, assembled, 
and marched for Williamsburg, with the avowed de- 
sign of compelling restitution of the powder, or of ob- 
taining its value. Their march was stopped by the 
active interposition of Mr. Braxton, who obtained from 
the King's receiver general, a bill for the value of the 
property that had been removed, with which he re- 
turned to the companies, and prevailed on them to 
relinquish a farther prosecution of the enterprise.* 

The alarm occasioned by this movement induced 
lady Dunmore, to retire with her family on board the 
Fowey man of war, lying in James river ; whilst his 



• The independent companies of the upper part of the northern neck, also 
assembled to the number of about six hundred men, and proceeded on horse- 
back as far as Fredericksburg, when a council was held in which Richard 
Henry Lee, ihen on his way to congress, presided, which advised their return 
'9 iheir respective homes. 



440 HISTORY OF THE 

^!L^i^^Z lordship fortified, his i)alace, which he garrisoned with 
a corps of marines ; and published a proclamation in 
which he chartjed those who had pr')cured the bill 
from the receiver general, with rebellious practices. 
During this state of irritation, lord North's concili- 
atory proposition was received ; and an assembly was 
suddenly called, to whose consideration it was sub- 
mitted. The governor used all his address to pro- 
cure its acceptance ; but, in Virginia, as in the other 
colonies, it was rejected, because it obviously involv- 
ed a surrender of the whole subject in contest. 

One of the first measures of the assembly was to in- 
quire into the causes of the late disturbances, and par- 
ticularly to examine the state of the magazine. Al- 
though this building belonged to the colony, it was in 
the custody of the governor ; and, before admittance 
could be obtained, some persons of the neighbourhood 
broke into it, one of whom was wounded by a spring 
gun, and it was found that the powder which remained 
had been buried, and that the guns were deprived of 
their locks. These circumstances excited so great a 
Governor ferment that the governor thought proper to w ithdraw 
i-pti"?no to the Fowey man of war. Several letters passed be- 
Ihb^oT wi. *^'^^" him and the legislature containing reciprocal 
complaints of each other, in the course of which they 
pressed his return to the seat of government, while 
he insisted on their coming on board the Fowey. 
They were content that he should, even there, give 
his assent to some bills that were prepared, but he re- 
fused so to do, and the assembly dissolved itself; the 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 44<1 

members being generally elected to a convention then chap.xiv 
about to meet in Richmond. 

Thus terminated for ever, the regal government in 
Virginia. 

In South Carolina, so soon as intelligence of the provinciax 
battle of Lexington was received, a provincial con- s°"^h^Ca-^ 
gress was called by the committee of correspondence, ''^i'"*- 
An association was formed, the members of which 
pledged themselves to each other to repel force by 
force, whenever the continental or provincial congress 
should determine it to be necessary; and declared that 
they would hold all those inimical to the colonies, who 
should refuse to subscribe it. The congress also de- 
termined to put the town and province in a posture of 
defence, and agreed to raise two regiments of infantry, 
and one of rangers. 

While the congress was in session, lord William Arrival of 
Campbell, who had been appointed governor, arrived iL',mCamp.- 
in the province, and was received with those demon- 
strations of joy which had been usual on such occa- 
sions. The congress waited on him with an address 
expressing the causes of their proceedings ; in which 
they declared that no love of innovation, no desire of 
altering the constitution of government, no lust of in- 
dependence, had the least influence on their councils; 
but that they had been compelled to associate and 
take up arms, solely for the preservation, and in de- 
fence, of their lives, liberties, and property. They 
entreated his excellency to make such a representa- 
tion of the state of the colony, and of their true mo- 
3 K 



44S HISTORY OF THE 

(^HAP_xiv. tjveg^ as to assure his majesty that he had no subjects 
who more sincerely desired to testify their loyalty and 
affection, or would be more willing to devote their 
lives and fortunes to his real service. His lordship 
returned a mild and prudent answer.* 

For some time lord William Campbell conducted 
himself w ith such apparent moderation, as to remain 
on good terms with the leaders of the opposition ; 
but he was secretly exerting all the influence of his 
station to defeat their views ; and was, at length, de- 
tected in carrying on negotiations with the Indians, 
and with the disaffected in the interior. These people 
had been induced to believe that the inhabitants of 
the sea coast, in order to exempt their tea from a 
trifling tax, were about to engage them in a contest, 
which would deprive them of their salt, osnaburgs, 
and other imported articles of absolute necessity. 
The detection of these intrigues excited such a fer- 
ment that the governor was compelled to fly from 
Charleston, and take refuge on board a ship of war in 
the river. The government was then, as elsewhere, 
taken entirely into the hands of men chosen by the 
people ; and a body of provincial troops was ordered 
into that part of the country which adhered to the 
royal cause, ^^here many individuals, contrary to the 
advice of governor Campbell, had risen in arms. 
The leaders were seized, and their followers dis- 
persed. 

In North Carolina also, governor Martin was charg- 

" Gordon. 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 'HiS 

ed with fomenting a civil war, and exciting an in- chapxiv 
surrection among the negroes. Relying on the aid he 
expected from the disaffected, especially from some 
highland emigrants, he made preparations for the de- 
fence of his palace ; but the people taking the alarm 
before his troops were raised, he was compelled to 
seek safety on board a sloop of war in Cape Fear river; 
soon after which, the committee resolved " that no per- 
son or persons whatsoever should have any correspon- 
dence with him, on pain of being deemed enemies to 
the liberties of America, and dealt with accordingly.'' 

As soon as congress was organised, Mr. Hancock 
laid before that body the depositions show ing that, in 
the battle of Lexington, the King's troops were the 
aggressors ; together wiih the proceedings of the pro- 
vincial congress of Massachusetts on that subject. 

The affairs of America were now arrived at a crisis 
to which they had been, for some time, rapidly tend- 
ing ; and it had become necessary for the delegates of 
the other provinces finally to determine, either to em- 
bark with New England in war, or, by separating 
from her, to surrender the object for which they had 
jointly contended, and submit to that unlimited su- 
premacy which was claimed by parliament. 

Even among the well informed, the opinion that 
the contest would ultimately be determined by the 
sword, had not become general. The hope had been 
indulged by many of the popular leaders, that the 
union of the colonies, the extent and serious aspect of 
the opposition, and the distress which their non-im- 



4;14.' HISTORY OF THE 



CHAP. X IV 

i;75. 



portation as^reements would produce among the mer- 
chants and manufacturers of the parent state, would 
induce administration to recede from its high preten- 
sions, and restore harmony and free intercourse. 
This opinion had derived strength from the commu- 
nications made them by their zealous friends in Eng- 
land. The divisions and discontents of that country, 
had been represented as much greater than the fact 
would justify ; and the exhortations transmitted to 
them to persevere in the honourable course which 
had been commenced with so much glory, had ge- 
nerally been accompanied with assurances that suc- 
cess would yet crown their patriotic labours. Many 
had engaged with zeal in the resistance made by 
America, and had acted on a full conviction of the 
correctness of the principles for which they contend- 
ed, who would have felt some reluctance in support- 
ing the measures which had been adopted, had they 
believed that those measures would produce war. 
But each party counted too much on the divisions of 
the other ; and each seems to have taken step after 
step, in the hope that its adversary would yield the 
point in contest, without resorting to open force. 
Thus, on both sides, the public feeling had been gra- 
dually conducted to a point, which would, in the first 
instance, have been viewed with horror, and had been 
prepared for events, which, in the beginning of the 
controversy, would have alarmed the most intrepid. 
The prevailing sentiment in the middle and southern 
colonies slill was, that a reconciliation, on the terms 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 445 

proposed by America, was not even yet imprar.tica- chap. xiv 
ble, and was devoutly to be wished ; but that war was 
to be preferred to a surrender of those rights, for 
which they had contended, and to which they behev- 
ed every British subject, wherever placed, to be un- 
questionably entitled. They did not hesitate there- 
fore which part of the alternative to embrace ; and 
their delegates united cordially with those of the 
north, in such measures as the exigency required. 
The resolution was unanimous that, as hostilities had 
actually commenced, and as large reinforcements to 
the British army were expected, these colonies should 
be immediately put in a state of defence, and the 
militia of New York be armed and trained, and kept 
in readiness to act at a moments warning. Congress 
also determined to embody a number of men, without 
delay, for the protection of the inhabitants of that 
place, but did not authorise opposition to the landing 
of any troops which might be ordered to that station 
by the crown. The convention of New York had 
already consulted congress on this subject, and had 
been advised to permit the soldiers to take possession 
of the barracks, and to remain there so long as they 
conducted themselves peaceably ; but, if they should 
commit hostilities, or invade private property, to repel 
force by force. Thus anxious was congress even 
after a battle had been fought, not to widen the breach 
between the two countries. In addition to the real 
wish for reconciliation, sound policy directed that the 
people of America should engage in the arduous con- 



446 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAP.xiv . flict which was approaching, with a perfect conviction 
that it was forced upon them, and not invited by the 
intemperate conduct of their leaders. TKe divisions 
existing in several of the States suggested the pro- 
priety of this conduct, even to those who despaired 
of deriving any other benefit from it, than a greater 
degree of union among their own countrymen. In 
this spirit, congress mingled with the resolutions for 
putting the country in a state of defence, others ex- 
pressing the most earnest wish for reconciliation with 
the mother country, to effect which, that body deter- 
mined to address, once more, an humble and dutiful 
petition to the King, and to adopt measures for open- 
ing a negotiation in order " to accommodate the un- 
happy disputes subsisting between Great Britain and 
the colonies.'' 

As no great confidence could be placed in the suc- 
cess of pacific propositions, the resolution for putting 
the country in a state of defence was accompanied 
with others rendered necessary by that undetermined 
state between war and peace, in which America was 
placed. All exports to those colonies, which had not 
deputed members to congress, were stopped ; and all 
supplies of provisions, and other necessaries, to the 
British fisheries, or to the army or navy in Masachu- 
setts Bay, or to any vessels employed in transporting 
British troops to America, or from one colony to ano- 
ther, were prohibited. Though this resolution was 
only an extension of the system of commercial resis- 
tance which had been adopted before the commence- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 447 

ment of hostilities, and was evidently provoked hy chap, xiv 
the late act ol parliament, it seems to have been en- 
tirely unexpected, and certainly produced great dis- 
tress. 

Massachusetts having stated the embarrassments 
resulting from being without a regular government, 
*' at a time when an army was to be raised to defend 
themselves against the butcheries and devastations 
of their implacable enemies,'^ and having declared a 
readiness to conform to such general plan as congress 
might recommend to the colonies, it was resolved 
" that no obedience is due to the act of parliament for 
altering the charter of that colony, nor to officers who, 
instead of observing that charter, seek its subversion." 
The governor and lieutenant governor, therefore, were 
to be considered as absent, and their offices vacant. 
To avoid the intolerable inconveniences arising from 
a total suspension of government, " especially at a 
time when general Gage had actually levied war, and 
was carrying on hostilities against his majesty's peace- 
able and loyal subjects in that colony," it was " re- 
commended to the convention to write letters to the 
inhabitants of the several places which are entitled to 
representation in the assembly, requesting them to 
choose such representatives ; and that such assembly 
or council exercise the powers of government until a 
governor of his majesty's appointment will consent 
to govern the colony, according to its charter."* 

These resolutions were quickly followed by others 

• Journals of congress. 



418 HISTORY OF THE 

CHAp.xiv. of greater vigour, denoting more decidedly, a deter- 
mination to prepare for the last resort of nations. 

It was earnestly recommended to the conventions 
of all the colonies to provide the means of making 
gun powder, and to obtain the largest possible sup- 
plies of ammunition. Even the non-importation 
agreement was relaxed in favour of vessels importing 
these precious materials. The conventions were also 
urged to arm and discipline the militia; and so to class 
them, that one- fourth should be minute men. They 
were also requested to raise several regular corps for 
the service of the continent ; and a general resolution 
was entered into, authorising any province thinking 
itself in danger, to raise a body of regulars not ex- 
ceeding one thousand men, to be paid by the united 
colonies. 

Congress also proceeded to organise the higher de- 
partments of the army, of which, colonel George 
Washington of Virginia was appointed commander in 
chiet.* 

Bills of credit to the amount of three millions of 
dollars were emitted for the purpose of defraying the 
expenses of the war, and the faith of the twelve con- 
federated colonies was pledged for their redemption. 
Articles of war for the government of the continental 
army were formed ; though the troops were raised 

• At'temus Ward of Massachusetts, then commanding the troo|)S before 
Boston; colonel Charles Lee, lat- ly an officer in ihe British seivice ; and Israel 
Putnam of Connecticut, were appointed uinjor gi nrals; Horatio Gates, wUo 
had held the rank of major in the British service, was appointed adjutant ge- 
neral 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 449 

under the authority of the respective colonies, without chap, xiv 
even a requisition from conp;ress, except in a few in- 
stances. A solemn dignified declaration, in form of Manifesto 
a manifesto, was prepared, to be published to the° '^°"S''es ■ 
army in orders, and to the people from the pulpit. 
After detailing the causes of their opposition to the 
mother country, with all the energy of men feeling 
the injuries of which they complain, the manifesto ex- 
claims " but why should we enumerate our injuries 
in detail ? By one statute, it is declared that parlia- 
ment can, of right, make laws to bind us in all cases 
whatsoever ! What is to defend us against so enor- 
mous, so unlimited a power ? Not a single man of 
those who assume it, is chosen by us, or is subject 
to our control or influence : but, on the contrary, they 
are, all of them, exempt from the operation of such 
laws ; and an American revenue, if not diverted from 
the ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would 
actually lighten their own burdens in proportion <\s 
they increase ours. We saw the misery to which 
such despotism would reduce us. We, for ten years, 
incessantly and ineffectually, besieged the throne as 
supplicants ; we reasoned, we remonstrated with par- 
liament in the most mild and decent language." 

The manifesto next enumerates the measures 
adopted by administration to enforce the claims of 
Great Britain, and then adds, — " we are reduced to 
the alternative of choosing an unconstitutional sub- 
mission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resis- 
tance by force. — The latter is our choice. We have 
3L 



450 HISTOKY OF THE 

'""^r„^'^ counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so 
dreadful as voluntary slavery. Honour, justice, and 
humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom 
which we received from our gallant ancestors, and 
which our innocent posterity have a right to receive 
from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt 
of resigning succeeding generations to that wretched- 
ness vdiich inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail 
hereditary bondage upon them. 

" Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Oui 
internal resources are great ; and, if necessary, foreign 
assistance is undoubtedly attainable. We gratefully 
acknowledge, as signal instances of the divine favour 
towards us, that his providence would not permit us 
to be called into this severe controversy, until we were 
grown up to our present strength, had been previous- 
ly exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the 
means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified 
with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, 
before God and the world, DECLARE that, exert- 
ing the utmost energy of those powers which our be- 
neficent creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, 
the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to 
assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with 
unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the 
preservation of our liberties ; being with one mind re- 
solved to die freemen, rather than to live slaves. 

*' Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds 
of our friends and fellow subjects in any part of the 
empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 451 

that union which has so long and fo happily subsist- chap.xiv . 
ed between us, and which we sincerely wish to see 
restored. Necessity has not yet driven us to that 
desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other 
nation to war against them. We have not raised ar- 
mies with ambitious designs of separating from Great 
Britain, and establishing independent states. We 
fight not for glory, or for conquest. We exhibit to 
mankind the remarkable spectacle of a people attack- 
ed by unprovoked enemies, without any imputation 
or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their 
privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder 
conditions than servitude or death. 

*' In our own native land in defence of the free- 
dom that is our birth right, and which we ever enjoy- 
ed until the late violation of it, for the protection of 
our property, acquired solely by the honest industry 
of our forefathers, and ourselves, against violence ac- 
tually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay 
them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of 
the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed 
shall be removed, and not before." 

Some intelligence respecting the movements of the 
British army having excited a suspicion that general 
Gage intended to penetrate into the country, the pro- 
vincial congress recommended it to the council of war - 
to take measures for the defence of Dorchester neck, 
and to occupy Bunker's hill, a commanding piece of 
ground just within the peninsula on which Charles- 
town stands. In observance of these instructions, a 



4'5S HISTORY OP THE 

CHAP. XIV ^ptarVirppnt of 0116 thousand men, commanded by 
colonel Prescot, was ordered to take possession of 
this ground ; but, by some mistake. Breed's hill, si- 
tuate nearer to Boston, was marked out, instead of 
Bunker's hill, for the proposed intrenchments. 

The party sent on this service worked with so 
much deligence and secrecy that, by the dawn of day, 
they had thrown up a small square redoubt, without 
alarming some ships of war which lay in the river at 
no great distance. As soon as the returning light 
discovered this work to the ships, a heavy cannonade 
was commenced upon it, which the provincials sus- 
tained with firmness. They continued to labour until 
they had thrown up a small breast work stretching 
from the east side of the redoubt to the bottom of the 
hill, so as to extend considerably their line of defence. 

As this eminence overlooked Boston, general Gage 
determined to drive the provincials from it ; and for 
this purpose, detached major general Howe, and bri- 
gadier general Pigot, at the head of ten companies of 
grenadiers, and the same number of light infantry, 
with a proper proportion of field artillery. These 
troops landed at More ton's point ; but, perceiving that 
the Americans waited for them with firmness, they 
remained on their ground until the arrival of a rein- 
forcement from Boston, for which general Howe had 
applied. During this interval, the Americans also 
were reinforced by a detachment under the command 
of generals Warren and Pommeroy ; and they avail- 
ed themselves of this delay to strengthen their dcfen- 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 453 



CHAP. XIV 

1775. 



ces with some adjoining posts and rails which they 
pulled up and arranged in two parallel lines at a small 
distance from each other ; filling the space between 
with hay, so as to form a complete cover from the 
musketry of the assailants. 

The British troops, on being joined by their second 
detachment, advanced slowly, in two lines, under 
cover of a heavy discharge of cannon and howitzers, 
frequently halting in order to allow their artillery 
time to demolish the works. While they were ad- 
vancing, orders were given to set fire to Charlestown, 
a handsome village, which flanked their line of march, 
and which was soon consumed. 

It is not easy to conceive a spectacle more grand 
and more awful than was now exhibited, nor a mo- 
ment of more anxious expectation. The scene of ac- 
tion was in full view of the heights of Boston and of 
its neighbourhood, which were covered with specta- 
tors taking deep and opposite interests in the events 
passing before them. The soldiers of the hostile ar- 
mies not on duty, the citizens of Boston, and the in- 
habitants of the adjacent country; all feeling emotions 
which set description at defiance, were witnesses of 
the majestic and tremendous scene. 

The provincials permitted the English to approach Battle ot 
unmolested, within less than one hundred yards of hi[r 
the works, and then poured in upon them so deadly 
a fire that their line was broken, and they fell back 
with precipitation towards the landing place. By 
the great exertions of their officers, they were rallied 



454< HISTORY OF THE 

^"^r* ^^^- ^"^ brought up to the charge ; but were again driveti 
back in confusion by the heavy and incessant fire 
from the works. General Howe is said to have been 
left, at one time, almost alone ; and it is certain that 
few officers about his person escaped unhurt. 

The impression to be made by victory or defeat 
in this early stage of the war, was deemed so impor- 
tant that extraordinary exertions were used once more 
to rally the English. With difficulty, they were led 
a third time to the works. The redoubt was attack- 
ed on three sides, while some pieces of artillery raked 
the breast work from end to end. At the same time, 
a cross fire from the ships, and floating batteries lying 
on both sides of the isthmus by which the peninsula 
is connected with the continent, not only annoyed the 
works on Breed's hill, but deterred any considerable 
reinforcements from entering the peninsula. The am- 
munition of the Americans being nearly exhausted, 
they were no longer able to keep up the same inces- 
sant stream of lire which had twice repulsed the as- 
sailants; and the redoubt, which the English mounted 
with ease, was carried at the point of the bayonet. 
Yet the Americans, many of whom were without 
bayonets, are said to have maintained the contest with 
clubbed muskets, until the redoubt was half filled 
with the King's troops. 

The redoubt being lost, the breast work was aban- 
doned ; and the hazardous movement was accom- 
plished, of retreating in the face of a victorious ene- 
my over Charlestown neck ; exposed to the same 



AMERICAN COLONIES. 455 

cross fire, which had deterred the reinforcements from chap.xiv 
coming to their assistance. 

The detachment employed on this enterprise con- 
sisted of about three thousand men, composing the 
flower of the British army ; and high encomiums were 
bestowed on the resolution they displayed. Accord- 
ing to the returns, their killed and wounded amount- 
ed to one thousand and fifty four, — an immense pro- 
portion of the number engaged in the action. Not- 
withstanding the danger of the retreat over Charles- 
town neck, the loss of the Americans was stated at 
only four hundred and fifty men. Among the killed 
was Doctor Warren, a gentleman greatly beloved and 
regretted, who fell just after the provincials began 
their retreat from the breast work. 

At the time, the colonial force on the peninsula 
was generally stated at fifteen hundred men. It has 
been since estimated at four thousand. 

Although the Americans lost the ground, they 
claimed the victory. Many of the advantages of vic- 
tory were certainly gained. Their confidence in 
themselves was greatly increased ; and it was asked, 
universally, how many more such triumphs the inva- 
ders of their country could afford ? 

The British army had been treated too roughly, to 
attempt farther offensive operations. They contented 
themselves with seizing and fortifying Bunker-s hill, 
which secured the peninsula of Charlestovvn ; in 
which, however, they remained as closely blockaded 
as in that of Boston. 



456 HISTORY OF THE 

^^^mf^^ -^^^ Americans were much elated by the intrepidi- 
ty their raw troops had displayed, and the execution 
they had done, in this ens^agement. They fondly 
cherished the belief that courage, and dexterity in the 
use of fire arms, woiild bestow advantages amply 
compensating the want of discipline. Unfortunately 
for the colonies, this course of thinking was not con- 
fined to the mass of the people. It seems to have 
extended to those who guided the public councils, 
and to have contributed to the adoption of a system, 
which, more than once, brought their cause to the 
brink of ruin. They did not distinguish sufficiently 
between the momentary efforts of a few brave men, 
brought together by a high sense of the injuries 
which threatened their country, and carried into ac- 
tion under the influence of keen resentments ; and 
those steady persevering exertions under continued 
suffering, which must be necessary to bring an im- 
portant war to a happy termination. Nor did they 
examine, with sufficient accuracy, several striking cir- 
cumstances attending the battle which had been 
fought. It is not easy to read the accounts given of 
the action without being persuaded, that, had the 
Americans on Breed's hill been supplied with ammu- 
nition, and been properly supported ; had the rein- 
forcements ordered to their assistance entered the 
peninsula, as soldiers in habits of obedience would 
have done, and there displayed the heroic courage 
which was exhibited b) their countrymen engaged in 
defence of the works ; the assailants must have been 



AMERICAN COLONIES. *57 

defeated, and the flower of the British army cut tnCHAP.xiv. 
pieces. It ought also to have been remarked that, 
while the few who were endowed with more than a 
common portion of bravery, encountered the danger 
of executing the orders they had received, the many 
were deterred by the magnitude of that danger. But 
it is not by the few that great victories are to be 
gained, or a country to be saved. 

Amidst these hostile operations, the voice of peace 
was yet heard. Allegiance to the King was still ac- 
knowledged ; and a lingering hope remained that an 
accommodation was not impossible. Congress voted 
a petition to his majesty, replete with professions of 
duty and attachment ; and addressed a letter to the 
people of England, conjuring them by the endearing . 
appellations of " friends, countrymen, and brethren," 
to prevent the dissolution of " that connexion which 
the remembrance of former friendships, pride in the 
glorious achievements of common ancestors, and af- 
fection for the heirs of their virtues, had heretofore 
maintained." They uniformly disclaimed any idea 
of independence, and professed themselves to con- 
sider union with England on constitutional principles 
as the greatest blessing which could be bestowed on 
them. 

But Britain had determined to maintain, by force, 
the legislative supremacy of parliament ; and Ame- 
rica was equally determined, by force, to repel the 
claim. 

3M 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE— No. I. 

The annals of Massachusetts, for this period, exhibit one of 
those wonderful cases of popular delusion, which infecting every 
class of society, and gaining strength from its very extravagance; 
triumphing over human reason, and cruelly sporting with human 
life ; reveal to man his deplorable imbecility, and would teach 
him, if the experience of others could teach, never to countenance 
a departure from that moderation, and those safe and sure princi- 
ples of moral rectitude which have stood the test of time, and have 
received the approbation of the wise and good in all ages. A 
very detailed and interesting account of the humiliating and 
affecting events here alluded to has been given bj Mr. Hutchin- 
son, but is too long to be inserted entire in this work : they 
were, however, of too much magnitude while passing, to be en- 
tirely unnoticed even at this day. 

In Great Britain, as well as in America, the opinion had long 
prevailed that, by the aid of malignant spirits, certain persons 
possessed supernatural powers, which were usually exercised in 
the mischievous employment of tormenting others ; and the 
criminal code of both countries was disgraced with laws for the 
punishment of witchcraft. With considerable intervals between 
them, some few instances had occurred in New England of put- 
ting this sanguinary law in force; but in the year 1692, this 
weakness was converted into frenzy ; and after exercising suc- 
cessfully its destructive rage on those miserable objects whose 



460 APPENDIX. 

wayward dispositions had excited the ill opinion, or whose age 
and wretchedness ought to have secured them the pity of their 
neighbours, its baneful activity was extended to persons in every 
situation of life, and many of the most reputable members of 
society became its victims. 

The first scene of this distressing tragedy was laid in Salem. 
The public mind had been prepared for its exhibition by some 
publications, stating the evidence adduced in former trials for 
witchcraft both in Old and New England, in which full proof 
was supposed to have been given of the guilt of the accused. 
Soon after this, some young girls in Boston had accustomed them- 
selves to fall into fits, and had aifected to be struck dead on the 
production of certain popular books, such as the assembly's cate- 
chism, and Cotton's milk for babes, while they could read Oxford's 
jests, or popish and quaker books, with many others, which were 
deemed profane, witliout being in any manner affected by them. 
These pretences, instead of exposing the fraud to instant detec- 
tion, seem to have promoted the cheat ; and they were supposed 
to be possessed by demons who were utterly confounded at the 
production of those holy books. "Sometimes," says Mr. Hut- 
chinson, " they were deaf, then dumb, then blind ; and some- 
times, all these disorders together would come upon them. 
Their tongues would be drawn down their throats, then pulled 
out upon their chins. Their jaws, necks, shoulders, elbows, and 
all their joints would appear to be dislocated, and they would 
make most piteous outcries of burnings, of being cut with knives, 
beat, &c. and the marks of wounds were afterwards to be seen." 
At length an old Irish woman, not of good character, who had 
given one of those girls some harsh language, and to whom all 
tiiis diabolical mischief was attributed, was apprehended by the 
magistracy ; and neither confessing nor denying the fact, was, on 
the certificate of physicians that she was compos mentis, con- 
demned and executed. 

Sir William Phipps, the governor, on his arrival from England, 
brought with him opinions which could not fail to strengthen the 
popular prejudice, and the lieutenant governor supported one 
which was well calculated to render it sanguinary. He main 



APPENDIX. 461 

tained that though the devil might appear in the shape of a guil- 
ty person, he could never be permitted to assume that of an in- 
nocent one. Consequently, when those who affected to perceive 
the form which tormented them designated any particular person 
as guilty, the guilt of that person was established, because he 
could not, if innocent, be personated by an evil spirit. 

The public mind being thus predisposed, four girls in Salem, 
complained of being afflicted in the same manner with those in 
Boston. The physicians, unable to account for the disorder, at- 
tributed it to witchcraft, and an old Indian woman in the neigh- 
bourhood was selected as the witch. The attention bestowed on 
these girls gave them great importance ; and not only confirm- 
ed them in the imposture, but produced other competitors who 
were ambitious of the same distinction. Several other persons 
were now bewitched ; and not only the old Indian, but two other 
old women, the one bedridden, and the other subject to melan- 
choly and distraction, were accused as witches. It was neces- 
sary to keep up the agitation already excited, by furnishing fresh 
subjects for astonishment ; and in a short time, the accusations 
extended to persons who were in respectable situations. The 
manner in which these accusations were received, evidenced 
such a degree of public credulity, that the impostors seem to 
have been convinced of their power to assail with impunity, all 
whom caprice or malignity might select for their victims. Such 
was the prevailing infatuation, that in one Instance, a child of 
five years old was charged as an accomplice in these pretended 
crimes ; and if the nearest relatives of the accused manifested 
either tenderness for their situation, or resentment at the injury 
done their friends, they drew upon themselves the vengeance of 
these profligate impostors, and were involved in the dangers 
from which they were desirous of rescuing those with whom 
they were most intimately connected. For going out of church 
when allusions were made from the pulpit to a person of fait 
fame, a sister was charged as a witch ; and for accompanying on 
her examination a wife who had been apprehended, the husband 
was involved in the same prosecution, and was condemned and 
executed. In the presence of the magistrates these flagitiou'" 



462 APPENDIX. 

accusers affected extreme a^ony, and attributed to those whom 
they accused, the power of torturing them by a look. The ex- 
aminations were all taken in writing, and several of them are 
detailed at full length in Mr. Hutchinson's history of Massachu- 
setts. They exhibit a deplorable degree of blind infatuation on 
one side, and of atrocious profligacy on the other, which if not 
well attested, could s( arcely be supposed to have existed. 

Many persons of sober lives, and unblemished characters, 
were committed to prison ; and the public prejudices had already 
pronounced their doom. Against charges of this nature, thus 
conducted, no defence could possibly be made. To be accused 
was to be found guilty. The very grossness of the imposition 
seeme<l to secure its success, and the absurdity of the accusation 
to establish the verity of the charge. 

The consternation became almost universal. It was soon 
perceived that all attempts to establish innocence must be inef- 
fectual ; and the person accused could only hope to obtain safe- 
ty, by confessing the truth of the charge, and criminating others. 
The extent of crime introduced by such a state of things almost 
surpasses belief Every feeling of humanity is shocked when 
we learn that to save themselves, children accused their parents; 
in some instances, parents their children ; and in one case, sen- 
tence of death was pronounced against a husband on the testi- 
mony of his wife. 

There were examples of persons who under the terrors of ex- 
amination confessed themselves guilty, and accused others ; but 
unable afterwards to support the reproaches of conscience, re- 
tracted their confessions under the persuasion that death would 
be the consequence of doing so. 

During this reign of popular frenzy, the bounds of probability 
were so far transcended, that we scarcely know how to give 
credit to the well attested fact, that among those who were per- 
mitted to save themselves by confessing that they were witches, 
and joining in the accusation of their parents, were to be found 
children from seven to ten years of age ! Among the numbers 
who were accused, only one person was acquitted. For this he 
was indebted to one of the girls who would not join the others 
in criminating him. 



APPENDIX. 463 

The examination had commenced in February, and the list 
of commitments had swelled to a lamentable bulk by June, when 
the new charter having arrived, commissioners of oyer and ter- 
miner were appointed for the trial of persons charged with 
witchcraft. By this court, a considerable number were con- 
demned, of whom nineteen, protesting their innocence, were 
executed. It is observed by Mr. Hutchinson, that those who 
were condemned and not executed had most probably saved them- 
selves by a confession of their guilt. 

Fortunately for those who were still to be tried, the legisla- 
ture, convened under the new charter, created a regular tribunal 
for the trial of criminal as well as civil cases, and the court of 
commissioners rose to sit no more. The first session of the re- 
gular court for the trial of criminal cases was to be held in Jan- 
uary, and this delay was favourable to reflection and to the re- 
covery of the public reason. Other causes contributed to this 
event. There remained yet in the various prisons of the colo- 
ny, a vast number of women, many of whom were of the most 
reputable families in the towns in which they had resided. Al- 
lusion had been made to many others of the first rank, and some 
had been expressly named by the bewitched and confessing 
witches. A Mr. Bradstreet, who had been appointed one of the 
council, and was son to the old governor of that name ; but who 
as a justice of the peace was suspected of not prosecuting with 
sufficient rigour, was named by the witnesses as a confeiJerate, 
and found it necessary to abscond. The governor's lady it is 
said, and the wife of one of the ministers who had favoured this 
persecution, were among the accused ; and a charge was also 
brought against the secretary of the colony of Connecticut. 

Although the violence ot the torrent of prejudice was beginning 
to abate, yet the grand jury in January, found a true bill against 
fifty persons, but of those brought to trial, only three were con- 
demned, and they were not executed. All those who were not 
tried in January, were discharged by order of the governor, "and 
never," says Mr. Hutchinson, " has such a jail delivery been 
known in New England. And never was there given a more 
melancholy proof of the degree of depravity of which man is capa- 
ble when the public passions countenance crime. 



464 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE— No. II. 1 S ^/ 

The PLAN of the Union was as follows, viz. 
"It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of 
parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general go- 
vernment may be formed in America, including all the said 
colonies: [Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina] within and under 
which government, each colony may retain its present consti- 
tution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be di- 
rected by the said act, as hereafter follows : 



PRESIDENT GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL. 

That the said general government be administered by a pre- 
sident general, to be appointed and supported by the crown, 
and a grand council, to be chosen by the representatives of the 
people of the several colonies, met in their assemiblies. 

ELECTION OF MEMBERS. 

That within months after passing such act, the houses 

of representatives that happen to be sitting within that time, or 
that shall be especially for that purpose convened, may and 
shall choose members for the grand council in the following pro- 
portion, that is to say : 

Massachusetts Bay .... 7 

New Hampshire 

Connecticut 

Rhode Island 



New York 
New Jersey 
Pennsylvania 
Maryland 
Virginia 
North Carolina 
South Carolina 



48 



APPENDIX. 465 

PLACE OF FIRST MEETING. 

Who shall meet for the first time at the city of Philadelphia, 
in Pennsylvania, being called by the president general as soon 
as conveniently may be after his appointment. 

NEW ELECTION. 

That there shall be a new election of the members of the 
grand council every three years ; and on the death or resigna- 
tion of any member, his place shall be supplied by a new choice, 
at the next sitting of the assembly of the colony he represented. 

PROPORTION OF THE MEMBERS AFTER THE FIRST THREE 
YEARS. 

That after the first three years, when the proportion of mo- 
ney arising out of each colony to the general treasuiy can be 
known, the number of members to be chosen for each colony 
shall, from time to time, in all ensuing elections, be regulated 
by that proportion (yet so as that the number to be chosen by 
any one province be not more than seven, nor less than two.) 

MEETINGS OF THE GRAND COUNCIL AND CALL. 

That the grand council shall meet once in every year, and 
oftener, if occasion require, at such time and place as they shall 
adjourn to at the last preceding meeting, or as they shall be 
called to meet at by the president general, on any emergency ; 
he having first obtained in writing the consent of seven of the 
members to such call, and sent due and timely notice to the 
whole. 

CONTINUANCE. 

That the grand council have power to choose their speaker ; 
and shall neither be dissolved, prorogued, nor continued sitting- 
longer than six weeks at one time ; witliout their own consent, 
or the special command of the crown. 

MEMBERS ATTENDANCE. 

That the members of the grand council shall be allowed for 
their services, ten shillings sterling per diem, during their ses- 
3 N 



466 APPENDIX. 

sion and journey to and from the place of meeting ; twenty miles 
to be reckoned a day's journey. 

' ASSENT OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND HIS DUTY. 

That the assent of the president general be requisite to all 
acts of the grand council ; and that it be his office and duty to 
cause them to be carried into execution. 

PCWER OF PRESIDENT GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL, 
TREATIES OF PEACE AND WAR. 

That the president general, with the advice of the grand 
council, hold or direct ail Indian treaties in which the general 
interest of the colonies may be concerned ; and make peace or 
declare war with Indian nations. 

INDIAN TRADE. 

That they make such laws as they judge necessary for regu- 
lating all Indian trade. 

INDIAN PURCHASES. 

That they make all purchases from the Indians for the crown, 
of lands not now within the bounds of particular colonies, or that 
shall not be within their bounds, when some of them are reduced 
to more convenient dimensions. 

NEW SETTLEMENTS. 

That they make new settlements on such purchases by grant- 
ing lands in the king's name, reserving a quit rent to the crown, 
for the use of the general treasury. 

LAWS TO GOVERN THEM. 

That they make laws for regulating and governing such new 
settlements, until the crown shall think fit to form them into 
particular governments. 

RAISE SOLDIERS AND EQUIP VESSELS, &C. 

That they raise and pay soldiers, build forts for the defence 
of any of the colonies, and equip vessels of force to guard the 



APPENDIX. 46r 

coasts and protect the trade on the ocean, lakes, or great rivers ; 
but they shall not impress men in any colony, without the con- 
sent of the legislature. 

POWER TO MAKE LAWS, LAY DUTIES, &C. 

That for these purposes they have power to make laws, and 
lay and levy such general duties, imposts, or taxes, as to them 
shall appear most equal and just, (considering the ability and 
other circumstances of the inhabitants in the several colonies) 
and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience to the 
people ; rather discouraging luxury, than loading industry with 
unnecessary burdens. 

GENERAL TREASURER AND PARTICULAR TREASURER. 

That they may appoint a general treasurer and particular 
treasurer in each government, when necessary; and from time 
time may order the sums in the treasuries of each government 
into the general treasury, or draw on them for special payments, 
as they find most convenient. 

MONEY, HOW TO ISSUE. 

Yet no money to issue but by' joint orders of the president 
general and grand council, except where sums have been appro- 
priated to particular purposes, and the president general has 
been previously empowered by an act to draw for such sums. 

ACCOUNTS. 

That the general accounts shall be yearly settled, and report- 
ed to the several assemblies. 

QUORUM. 

That a quorum of the grand council, empowered to act with 
the president general, do consist of twenty-five members; 
among whom there shall be one or more from the majority of the 
colonies. 

~ LAWS TO BE TRANSMITTED. 

That the laws made by them for the purposes aforesaid, shall 



468 APPENDIX. 

not be repugnant, but, as near as may be, agreeable to the laws 
of England, and shall be transmitted to the king in council, for 
approbation, as soon as may be after their passing ; and if not 
disapproved within three years after presentation, to remain in 
force. 

DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT GENERAL. 

That in case of the death of the president general, the speaker 
of the grand council for the time being shall succeed, and be 
vested with the same powers and authorities, to continue until 
the king's pleasure be known. 

OFFICERS, HOW APPOINTED. 

That all military commission officers, whether for land or sea 
service, to act under this general constitution, shall be nominated 
by the president general ; but the approbation of tlie grand 
council is to be obtained, befoie they receive their commissions. 
And all civil officers are to Be nominated by the grand council, 
and to receive the president general's approbation before they 
officiate. 

VACANCIES, now SUPPLIED. 

But in case of vacancy, by death, or removal of any officer, 
civil or military, under this constitution, the governor of the 
])rovince in which such vacancy happens, may appoint until 
the pleasure of the president general and grand council can be 
known. 

EACH COLONY MAY DEFE'ND ITSELF ON EMERGENCY, &C. 

That the particular military as well as civil establishments in 
each colony remain in their present state, the general constitu- 
tion notwithstanding ; and that on sudden emergencies any co- 
lony may defend itself, and lay the accounts of expense thence 
arising before the president general and grand council, who may 
allow and order payment of the same as far as they judge sucli 

accounts reasonable. 

Minot. 



APPENDIX. 465 

- jS'OTE— No. III. y? • 3 ^^■ 

These being the first resolutions of any assembly after tlie 
passage of the stamp act, they are inserted. 

Whereas, The honourable house of commons in England have 
of late drawn into question how far the general assembly of this 
colony hath power to enact laws for laying taxes and imposing 
duties payable by the people of this his majesty's most ancient 
colony, for settling and ascertaining the same to all future times, 
the house' of Buf-gesses of the present general assembly have 
come to the several following resolutions. 

Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this his 
majesty's colony and dominion of Virginia, brought with them, 
and transmitted to their posterity, and all others his majesty's 
subjects since inhabiting in this his majesty's colony, all the 
privileges and immunities that have at any time been held, en- 
joyed, and possessed by the people of Great Britain. 

Resolved, That by two royal charters granted by King James I. 
the colonies aforesaid are declared entitled to all the privileges 
of denizens, and natural born subjects, to all intents and pur- 
poses as if they had been abiding and born within the realm of 
England. 

Resolved, That the taxation of the people by themselves, or by 
persons chosen by themselves, to represent them, who can only- 
know what taxes the people are able to bear, and the easiest 
mode of raising them, and are equally affected by such taxes 
themselves, is the distinguished characteristic of British free- 
dom, and without which the ancient constitution cannot subsist. 

Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this most ancient 
colony have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being thus go- 
verned by their own assembly in the article of their taxes and 
internal police, and that the same hath never been forfeited nor 
any other way yielded up, but hath been constantly recognised 
by the K.ing and people of Great Britain. 

Resolved, Therefore, that the general assembly of this colony 
have the sole power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inha 



470 APPENDIX. 

tants of this colony ; and that every attempt to vest such a 
power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the ge- 
neral assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy 
British as well as American freedom.* 



NOTE— NO. IV. A '^6/- 

" The members of this congress, sincerely devoted with the 
warmest sentiments of affection and duty, to his majesty's per- 
son and government, inviolably attached to the present happy 
establishment of the protestant succession, and with minds deep- 
ly impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfor- 
tunes of the British colonies on this continent; having consider- 
ed, as maturely as time will permit, the circumstances of the 
said colonies, esteem it our indispensable duty to make the fol- 
lowing declarations of our humble opinion, respecting the most 
essential rights and liberties of the colonists, and of the griev- 
ances under which they labour, by reason of several late acts of 
parliament. 

I. That his majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the same 
allegiance to the crown of Great Britain that is owing from his- 
subjects born within the reilm, and all due subordination to that 
august body the parliament of Great Britain. 

II. That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies, are en- 
titled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born 
subjects, within the kingdom of Great Britain. 

III. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a peo- 
ple, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be 

" These resolutions are in a small degree different From tliose published in the 
Introduclion to the Life of Washington. They are copied from Mr. Wirt's Life of 
Patrick Henry. That gentleman having been fortunate enough to obtain a copy of 
the journals of the house of Burgesses for that session, the resolutions extracted 
from them by him are supposed to be accurate. 



APPENDIX. 471 

imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, 
or by their representatives. 

IV. That the people of these colonies or not, and, from their 
local circumstances, cannot be represented in the house of com- 
mons of Great Britain. 

V. That the only representatives of these colonies are persons 
chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been, 
or can be constitutionally imposed upon them, but by their re- 
spective legislatures. 

VI. That all supplies to the crown being free gifts from the 
people, it is unreasonable, and inconsistent with the principles 
and spirit of the British constitution, fur the people of Great 
Britain to grant to his majesty the property of the colonists. 

VII. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right 
of every British subject in these colonies. 

VIII. That the late act of parliament entitled, 'an act for 
granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, 
in the British colonies and plantations in America,' &,c by im- 
posing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies ; and the said 
act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the 
courts of admiralty beyond its ancient limits, have a manifest 
tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists. 

IX. That the duties imposed by several late acts of parlia- 
ment, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will be 
extremely burdensome and grievous ; and from the scarcity of 
specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable. 

X. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimate- 
ly centre in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures which 
they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute 
very largely to all supplies granted to the crown. 

XI. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of par- 
liament on the trade of these colonies, will render them unable 
to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain. 

XII. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these 
colonies depend on the full and free enjoyment of their rights 
and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain mutually 
afl'ectionate and advantageous. 



47t2. APPENDIX. 

XIII. That it is the right of the British subjects in these co- 
lonies to petition the king, or either house of parliament. 

XIV. That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies, to 
the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, 
to endeavour, by a loyal and dutiful address to his majesty, and 
liumble applications to both houses of parliament, to procure the 
repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, 
of all clauses of any other acts of parliament, whereby the ju- 
risdiction of the admiralty is extended as aforesaid, and of the 
other late acts for the restriction of American commerce." 

* Prior Documents. 



a,i^n ^ ^^^ <^^tirhJ;j 



NOTE— No. V. ^Tr . 



'■t>7/ 



Province of Massachusetts Bay, Feb. 11, 1768. 

Sir, 

The house of representatives of this province have taken into 
their consideration the great difficulties that must accrue to 
themselves and their constituents, by the operation of the seve- 
ral acts of parliament imposing duties and taxes on the Amei'i- 
can colonies. 

As it is a subject in which every colony is deeply interested, 
they have no reason to doubt but your house is duly impressed 
with its importance : and that such constitutional measures will 
be come into as are proper. It seems to be necessary, that all 
possible care should be taken that the representations of the se- 
veral assemblies, upon so delicate a point, should harmonise with 
each other : the house, therefore, hope that this letter will be 
candidly considered in no other light, than as expressing a dis- 
position freely to communicate their mind to a sister colony, 
upon a common concern, in the same manner as they would be 
glad to receive the sentiments of your or any other house of as- 
sembly on the continent. 



APPENDIX. 47r> 

The house have humbly represented to the ministry their own 
sentiments ; that his majesty's high court of parliament is the 
supreme legislative power over the whole empire : that in all 
free states the constitution is fixed : and, as the supreme legis- 
lative derives its power and authority from the constitution, it 
cannot overleap the bounds of it, without destroying its founda- 
tion ; that the constitution ascertains and limits both sovereignty 
and allegiance ; and therefore, his majesty's American subjects 
who acknowledge themselves bound by the ties of allegiance* 
have an equitable claim to the full enjoyment of the fundamen- 
tal rules of the British constitution ; that it is an essential un- 
alterable right in nature, ingrafted into the British constitution 
as a fundamental law, and ever held sacred and irrevocable by 
the subjects within the realm, that what a man hath honestly 
acquired is absolutely his own, which he may freely give, but 
cannot be taken from him without his consent ; that the Ame- 
rican subjects may therefore, exclusive of any consideration 
of charter rights, with a decent firmness adapted to the charac- 
ter of freemen and subjects, assert this natural and constitu- 
tional right. 

It is moreover their humble opinion, which they express with 
the greatest deference to the wisdom of the parliament, that the 
acts made there, imposing duties on the people of this province, 
with the sole and express purpose of raising a revenue, are in- 
fringements of their natural and constitutional rights ; because 
as they are not represented in the British parliament, his ma- 
jesty's commons in Britain by those acts grant their property 
without their consent. 

This house further are of opinion, that their constituents, con- 
sidering their local circumstances, cannot by any possibility be 
represented in the parliament ; and that it will forever be im- 
practicable that they should be equally represented there, and 
consequently not at all, being separated by an ocean of a thou- 
sand leagues : that his majesty's royal predecessors, for this 
reason, were graciously pleased to form a subordinate legisla- 
tive here, that their subjects might enjoy the unalienable right 
of a representation. Also, that, considering the utter impracti- 
3 O 



474 APPENDIX. 

cability of their ever being fully and equally represented in par- 
liament, and the great expense that must unavoidably attend 
even a partial representation there, this house think, that a tax- 
ation of their constituents, even without their consent, grievous 
as it is, would be preferable to any representation that could be 
admitted for them there. 

Upon these principles, and also considering that were the 
right in the parliament ever so clear, yet for obvious reasons 
it would be beyond the rule of equity, that their constituents 
should be taxed on the manufactures of Great Britain here, in 
addition to the duties they pay for them in England, and other 
advantages arising to Great Britain from the acts of trade ; this 
house have preferred a humble, dutiful, and loyal petition to 
our most gracious sovereign, and made such representation to 
his majesty's ministers, as they apprehend would tend to obtain 
redress. 

They have also submitted to consideration, whether any peo- 
ple can be said to enjoy any degree of freedom, if the crown, 
in addition to its undoubted authority of constituting a governor, 
should appoint him such a stipend as it shall judge proper with- 
out the consent of the people, and at their expense ; and whe- 
ther, while the judges of the land, and other civil officers, hold 
not their commissions during good behaviour, their having sala- 
ries appointed for them by the crown, independent of the peo- 
ple, hath not a tendency to subvert the principles of equity, and 
endanger the happiness and security of the subject. 

In addition to these measures, the house have written a letter 
to their agent Mr. de Berdt, the sentiments of which he is di- 
rected to lay before the ministry; wherein they take notice of 
the hardship of the act for preventing mutiny and desertion, 
which requires the governor and council to provide enumerated 
articles for the king's marching troops and the people to pay 
the expense : and also the commission of the gentlemen appoint- 
ed commissioners of the customs to reside in America, which 
authorises them to make as many appointments as they think fit, 
and to pay the appointees what sums they please, for whose 
mal-conduct they are not accountable; from whence it may 



APPENDIX. 475 

happen, that officers of the crown may be multiplied to such a 
degree, as to become dangerous to the liberties of the people, 
by virtue of a commission which doth not appear to this house 
to deiive any such advantages to trade as many have been led 
to expect. 

These are the sentiments and proceedings of the house, and 
as they have too much reason to believe that the enemies of the 
colonies have represented them to his majesty's ministers and 
the parliament as factious, disloyal, and having a disposition to 
make themselves independent of the mother country, they have 
taken occasion in the most humble terms, to assure his majesty 
and his ministers, that, with regard to the people of this pro- 
vince, and, as they doubt not, of all the colonies, the chaige is 
unjust. 

The house is fully satisfied, that your assembly is too generous 
and enlarged in sentiment to believe, that this letter proceeds 
from an ambition of taking the lead, or dictating to the other 
assemblies : they freely submit their opinion to the judgment of 
others; and shall take it kind in your house to point out to them 
any thing further that may be thought necessary. 

This house cannot conclude without expressing their firm con- 
fidence in the king, our common head and father, that the united 
and dutiful supplications of his distressed American subjects will 
meet with his royal and favourable acceptance. 



a 



.^OT^No^VI. A. b9 7. 



An account of the origin of these committees, and of their mode 
of proceeding, is thus given by Mr. Gordon, and is not un- 
worthy of attention. 

" Governor Hutchinson and his adherents having been used 
to represent the party in opposition, as only an uneasy factious 
few in Boston, while the body of the people were quite content- 
ed ; Mr. Samuel Adams was thereby induced to visit Mr. James 



470 APPENDIX. 

Warren, of Plymouth. After conversing upon the subject, the 
latter proposed to originate and establish committees of corres- 
pondence in the several towns of the colony, in order to learn 
the strength of the friends to the rights of the continent, and to 
unite and increase their force. Mr. Samuel Adams returned to 
Boston, pleased with the proposal, and communicated the same 
to his confidents. Some doubted whether the measure would 
prosper, and dreaded a disappointment which might injure the 
cause of liberty. But it was concluded to proceed. The prime 
managers were about six in number, each of whom, when sepa- 
rate, headed a division ; the several individuals of which, col- 
lected and led distinct subdivisions. In this manner the politi- 
cal engine has been constructed. The different parts are not 
equally good and operative. liike other bodies, its composition 
includes numbers who act mechanically, as they are pressed this 
way or that way by those who judge for them ; and divers of the 
wicked, fitted for evil practices, when the adoption of them is 
thought necessary to particular purposes, and a part of whose 
creed it is, that in political matters the public good is above 
every other consideration, and that all rules of morality when 
in competition with it, may be safely dispensed with. When 
any important transaction is to be brought forward, it is tho- 
roughly considered by the prime managers. If they approve, 
each communicates it to his own division ; from thence, if adopt- 
ed, it passes to the several subdivisions, which form a general 
meeting in order to canvass the business. The prime managers 
being known only by few to be the promoters of it, are desired 
to be present at the debate, that they may give their opinion 
when it closes. If they observe that the collected body is in 
general strongly against the measure they wish to have carried, 
they declare it to be improper : is it opposed by great numbers, 
but not warmly, they a<lvise to a re-consideration at another 
meeting, and prepare for its being then adopted ; if the opposi- 
tion is not considerable, either in number or weight of peisons, 
they give their reasons, and then recommend the adoption of the 
measure. The principal actors are determined on securing the 
liberties of their country, or perishing in the attempt. 



APPENDIX, 477 

"The news of his majesty's granting salaries to the justices 
of the superior court, afforded them a fair opportunity for exe- 
cuting the plan of establishing committees of correspondence 
through the colony. The most spirited pieces were published, 
and an alarm spread, that the granting such salaries tended 
rapidly to complete the system of their slavery. 

"A town meeting was called, and a committee of correspond- 
ence appointed, to write circular letters to all the towns in the 
prevince, and to induce them to unite in measures. The commit- 
tee made a report, containing several resolutions contradictory 
to the supremacy of the British legislature. After setting forth, 
that all men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long- 
as they please, they proceed to a report upon the natural rights 
of the colonists as men, christians, and subjects; and then form 
a list of infringements and violations of their rights. They enu- 
merate and dwell upon the British parliament's having assumed 
the power of legislation for the colonies in all cases whatsoever 
■ — the appointment of a number of new officers to superintend 
the revenues — the granting of salaries out of the American re- 
venue, to the governor, the judges of the superior court, the 
king's attorney and solicitor general. The report was accepted; 
copies printed ; and six hundred circulated through the lowns 
and districts of the province, with a pathetic letter addressed 
to the inhabitants, who were called upon not to doze any longer, 
or sit supinely in indifference, while the iron hand of oppressioft 
was daily tearing the choicest fruits from the fair tree of liberty. 
The circular letter requested of each town a free communication 
of sentiments on the subjects of the report, and was directed to 
the select men, who were desired to lay the same before a town 
meeting, which has been generally practised, and the proceed- 
ings of the town upon the business have been transmitted to the 
committee at Boston. This committee have their particular 
correspondents in the several towns, who, upon receiving any 
special information, are ready to spread it with dispatch among 
the inhabitants. It consists of twenty-one persons of hetero- 
geneous qualities and professions, &c." 

Gordon^ s Hist. Am, War, vol. 1. p. 31 g. 



478 APPENDIX. 

NOTE— NO. VII. A- ^1 / ^ 

THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE MEMBERS COMPOSING THE 
FIRST CONGRESS : 

New Hampshire. 
John Sullivan, Nathaniel Fulsom. 

Massachusetts Bay. 
James Bowdoin, John /\.dams, 

Thomas Gushing, Robert Treat Paine. 

Samuel Adams, 

Bhode Island and Providence Plantations. 
Stephen Hopkins, Samuel Ward. 

Connecticut. 
Eliphalet Dyer, Silas Deane. 

Roger Sherman, 

From the city and county of New Fork, and other counties in the 

province of New York. 
James Duane, Philip Livingston, 

Henry Wisner, Isaac Low, 

John Jay, John Alsop. 

From the county of Suffolk, in the province of New York. 
William Floyd. 

New Jersey. 
James Kinsey, Stephen Crane, 

William Livingston, Richard Smith. 

John Dehart, 

Pennsylvania. 
Joseph Galloway, John Morton, 

Charles Humphreys, Thomas Mifflin, 

Samuel Rhoads, Edward Biddle, 

George RosS; John Dickinson.- 



APPENDIX. 



479 



Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex, on Delaware. 
Cesar Rodney, George Read. 

Thomas M'Kean, 



Robert Goldsborough, 
Thomas Johnson, 
William Paca, 



Pejton Randolph, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
George Washington, 
Patrick Henry, 



William Hooper, 
Joseph Hughes, 



Henry Middleton, 
John Rutledge, 
Thomas Lynch, 



Maryland. 

Samuel Chase, 
Matthew Tilghman» 

Virginia. 

Richard Bland, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Edmund Pendleton. 



North Carolina. 

Richard Caswell, 

South Carolina. 

Christopher Gadsden, 
Edward Rutledg-e. 



T ^ NOTE— NO. VIII. y A- 4^^' .^^ 

These resolutions manifested a degree of irritation which had not 
before been displayed. They are introduced in the following 
manner : 

" Whereas the power but not the justice, the vengeance but 
not the wisdom of Great Britain, which of old persecuted, 
scourged, and exiled our fugitive parents from their native 
shores, now pursues us their guiltless children, with unrelenting 
severity; and whereas this, then savage and uncultivated desert, 
^vas purchased by the toil aad treasure, or acquired by the blood 



480 APPENDIX. 

and valour of those our venerable progenitors ; to us they be- 
queathed the dear bought inheritance ; to our care and protec- 
tion they consigned it; and the most sacred obligations are upon 
us to transmit the glorious purchase, unfettered by power, un- 
clogged with shackles, to our innocent and beloved offspring. 
On the fortitude, on the wisdom, and on the exertions of this 
important day, is suspended the fate of this new world, and of 
unborn millions. If a boundless extent of continent, swarming 
with millions, will tamely submit to live, move, and have their 
being at the arbitrary will of a licentious minister, they basely 
yield to voluntary slavery, and future generations shall load 
their memories with incessant execrations. On the other hand, 
if we arrest the hand which would ransack our pockets, if we 
disarm the parracide which points the dagger to our bosoms, if 
we nobly defeat that fatal edict which proclaims a power to 
frame laws for us in all cases whatsoever, thereby entailing the 
endless and numberless curses of slavery upon us, our heirs, and 
their heirs for ever ; if we successfully resist that unparalleled 
usurpation of unconstitutional power, whereby our capital is 
robbed of the means of life ; whereby the streets of Boston are 
thronged with military executioners ; whereby our coasts are 
lined, and harbours crowded with ships of war ; whereby the 
charter of the colony, that sacred barrier against the encroach- 
ments of tyranny, is mutilated, and in effect annihilated ; where- 
by a murderous law is framed to shelter villians from the hands 
of justice; whereby the unalienable and inestimable inheritance, 
which we derived from nature, the constitution of Britain, and 
the privileges warranted to us in the charter of the province, is 
totally wrecked, annulled, and vacated : Posterity will acknow- 
ledge that virtue which preserved them free and happy ; and 
while we enjoy the rewards and blessings of the faithful, the 
torrent of panegyrists will roll our reputations to that latest 
period, when the streams of time shall be absorbed in the abyss 
of eternity. 

" Therefore resolved," &c. &c. &c. 



APPENDIX. 481 



NOTE— NO. IX. /^- -h^'^ 

" Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parlia- 
ment, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America 
by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath in some acts expressly 
imposed taxes on them ; and in others, under various pretences, 
but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue, hath imposed 
rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board 
of commissioners with unconstitutional powers, and extended 
the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty, not only for collecting 
the said duties, hut for the trial of causes merely arising within 
the body of a county. 

" And whereas, in consequence of other statutes, judges, who 
before held only estates at will in their offices, have been made 
dependent on the crown alone for their salaries, and standing 
armies kept in times of peace : And whereas it has lately been 
resolved in parliament, that by force of a statute, made in the 
thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry VIII. colonists may 
be transported to England and tried there upon accusations for 
treasons, and misprisons and concealments of treasons commit- 
ted in the colonies, and by a late statute, such trials have been 
directed in cases therein mentioned. 

" And whereas, in the last session of parliament, three statutes 
were made ; one entitled, * An act to discontinue in such man- 
ner and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and 
discharging, lading or shipping of goods, wares, and merchan- 
dise, at the town, and within the harbour of Boston, in the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay in North Ameri( a ;' another en- 
titled, * An act for the better regulating the government of the 
province of Massachusetts Bay in New England ;' and another 
act, entitled, 'An act for the impartial adminii-tration of justice, 
in the cases of persons questioned for any act done by them in 
the execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tu- 
3 P 



48£ APPENDIX, 

tnults, in the province of the Massachusetts Bay in New Eng- 
land ;' and another statute was then made, 'for making more 
effectual provision for the government of the province of Que- 
bec," &c. All which statutes are impolitic, unjust, anji cruel, 
as well as unconstitutional, and most dangerous and destructive 
of American rights. 

" And whereas, assemblies have been frequently dissolved, 
contrary to the rights of the people, when they attempted to 
deliberate on grievances ; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and 
reasonable petitions to the crown for redress, have been repeat- 
edly treated with contempt by his majesty's ministers of state ; 
the good people of the several colonies of New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, 
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New Cas- 
tle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina, justly alarmed at the arbitrary- 
proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally 
elected, constituted and appointed deputies to meet and sit in 
general congress, in the city of Philadelphia , in order to obtain 
such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and liberties, 
may not be subverted : whereupon the deputies so appointed 
being now assembled, in a full and free representation of these 
colonies, taking into their most serious consideration, the best 
means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place, as 
Englishmen their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for 
asserting and vindicating their rights and liberties, declare, 
that the inhabitants of the English colonies in North America, 
by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English 
constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have the fol- 
lowing rights. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. 1st, that they are entitled to life, liberty, 
and property; and they have never ceded to any sovereign 
power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their con- 
sent. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. 2d, that our ancestors, who first settled 
these colonies, were, at the time of their 'emigration from the 



APPENDIX. 483 

mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and im- 
munities of free and natural born subjects, within the realm of 
England. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. 3d, that by such emigration they by no 
means forfeited, .surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but 
that they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the 
exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and 
other circumstances enabled them to exercise and enjoy. 

" Resolved, 4th, that the foundation of English liberty and of 
all free government, is a right in the people to participate in 
their legislative council : and as the English colonists are not 
represented, and from their local and other circumstances cannot 
properly be represented in the British parliament, they are en- 
titled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their seve- 
ral provincial legislatures, where their right of representation 
can alone be preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal 
polity subject only to the negative of their sovereign, in such 
manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed : but from 
the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of 
both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such 
acts of the British parliament, as are, bona fide, restrained to 
the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of se- 
curing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the 
mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective 
members ; excluding every idea of taxation internal or external, 
for raising a revenue on the subjects in America without their 
consent. 

** Resolved, n. c. d. 5th, that the respective colonies are en- 
titled to the common law of England, and more especially to 
the great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers 
of the vicinage, according to the course of that law. 

"Resolved, 6th, that they are entitled to the benefit of such 
of the English statutes, as existed a. *he time of their colonisa- 
tion ; and which they have, by experience, respectively found to 
be applicable to their several local and other cir( umstances. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. 7th, that these, his majesty's colonies are 
likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted 



484 APPENDIX. 

and confirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their 
several codes of provincial laws. 

"Resolved, n. c. d. 8th, that they have a right peaceably to 
assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the King ; 
and that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and com- 
mitments for the same, are illegal. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. 9th, that the keeping a standing army ia 
these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the le- 
gislature of that colony in which such army is kept, is against 
law. 

"Resolved, n. o. d. 10th, it is indispensably necessary to good 
government, and rendered essential by the English constitu- 
tion, that the constituent branches of the legislature be indepen- 
dent of each other ; that, therefore, the exercise of legislative 
power in several colonies, by a council appointed, during plea- 
sure, by the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous, and destruc- 
tive to the freedom of American legislation. 

" All and each of which the aforesaid deputies, in behalf of 
themselves and their constituents, do claim, demand, and insist 
on, as their indubitable rights and liberties; which cannot be le- 
gally taken from them, altered or abridged by any power what- 
ever, without their own consent, by their representatives in their 
several provincial legislatures. 

" In the course of our inquiry, we find many infringements 
and violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an ardent de- 
sire that harmony and mutual intercourse of affection and inter- 
est may be restored, we pass over for the present, and proceed 
to state such acts and measures as have been adopted since the 
last war, which demonstrate a system formed to enslave J^^me- 
rica. 

" Resolved, n. c. d. that the following acts of parliament are 
infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists ; and 
that the repeal of them is essentially necessary, in order to re- 
store harmony between Great Britain and the American colo- 
nies, viz. 

"The several acts of 4 Geo. III. chap. 15, and 34.-5 Geo. 



APPENDIX. 485 

ill. chap. 25.-6 Geo. III. chap. 52.-7 Geo. III. chap. 41, and 
chap. 46. — 8 Geo. III. chap. 22 ; which imposed duties for the 
purpose of raising a revenue in America ; extend the power of 
the admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits ; deprive the 
American subject of trial by jury; authorise the judge's cer- 
tificate to indemnify the prosecutor from damag«is, that he might 
otherwise be liable to ; requiring oppressive security from a 
claimant of ships and goods seized, before he shall W allowed 
to defend his property, and are subversive of American rights, 

"Also 12 deo. III. chap. 24 intituled, 'an act for the better 
securing his majesty's dockyards, magazines, ships, ammunition, 
and stores,' which declares a new offence in Ameiica, and de- 
prives the American subject of a constitutional trial by a jury 
of the vicinage, by authorising the trial of any person charged 
with the committing of any offence described in the said act, 
out of the realm, to be indicted and tried for the same in any 
shire or county within the realm. 

" Also the three acts passed in the last session of parliament, 
for stopping the port and blocking up the harbour of Boston, for 
altering the charter and government of Massachusetts Bay, and 
that which is intitutled, 'an act for the better administration of 
justice,' &c. 

" Also, the act passed in the same session for establishing the 
Roman catholic religion in the province of Quebec, abolishing 
the equitable system of English laws, and erecting a tyranny 
there, to the great danger, (from so total a dissimilarity of reli- 
gion, law, and government) of the neighbouring British colonie.s, 
by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country 
was conquered from France. 

" Also, the act passed in the «-i"i« session for the better pro- 
viding suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in his majesty's 
service in North America. 

" Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of these 
colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the legisla- 
ture of that colony in which such army is kept, is against law. 

"To these grievous acts and measures, Americans cannot sub- 
mit; but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great Britain will, on 



486 APPENDIX. 

a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both coun- 
tries found happiness and prosperity, we have for the present 
only resolved to pursae the following peaceable measures : 1. 
to enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and non-ex- 
portation agreei.ient or association. 2. To prepare an address 
to the people of Great Britain, and a memorial to the inhabi- 
tants of British America : and, 3. To prepare a loyal address to 
his majestj, agreeable to resolutions already entered into." 



THE END. 



